Cable ops, studios launch VoD campaign

A sweet 16 of eight cable operators--Armstrong, Bend Broadband, Bright House Networks, iO TV, Comcast, Cox, Insight and Time Warner Cable--and eight Hollywood studios--20th Century Fox,  Focus Features, Lionsgate, Rogue, Sony Pictures, Summit Entertainment, Universal and Warner Bros.--are partnering in a $30 million marketing campaign to promote video-on-demand through digital set-top boxes. Called "The Video Store Just Moved In," the campaign will use TV, print and online advertising to show subscribers how easy it is to rent a movie with a remote control.

The effort even has a green "Movies on Demand" logo that will be used by cable companies and studios in marketing materials to "rally around a brand," said Mike Dunn, president of Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Worldwide in a story in Variety.

The studios, who in the past have been somewhat lackluster about supporting cable viewing, have seen DVD sales decline so they're looking for different ways to pick up the slack. DVD-VoD release of a movie is one way to hedge their bets. VoD, after all, counts 350 million views a month so someone must want to buy and watch a movie on cable.

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