Comcast Ramps Up HD VOD Content

PHILADELPHIA/ENGLEWOOD,
September 13: Beginning September 15, Comcast will offer 100 hours of
high-definition video-on-demand programs on its ON DEMAND service, including at
least 20 HD movies from Starz Entertainment each month.

The initiative kicks off with
Disney’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, which will be available on demand on Comcast on
September 15, more than one week before its scheduled airdate on the Starz HD
cable channel.

The move follows the continued
success of Comcast’s ON DEMAND platform—about 3 billion purchases have
been recorded since 2004. Further, the cable platform says that in a recent
survey of 200 cable customers with HD service, nearly 80 percent of respondents
said they prefer to watch high-definition programs on their terms, not when the
shows air on a traditional television schedule. The most requested HD
programming was broadcast network shows (65 percent), followed by premium
channel movies and series (62 percent), and national sports (61 percent).