CinemaNow to trial Universal Studios' content

By Susan Rush
From The October 7, 2002 Edition Of CED Broadband Direct

Universal Studios Pay-Per-View has turned to CinemaNow Inc. to test the waters for downloading and streaming its content.

During a four-month trial, CinemaNow will offer first-run and catalog Universal titles via its video-on-demand Web site www.cinemanow.com. The titles will be available in streaming and download formats.

Beginning in November, first-run titles Big Fat Liar, The Scorpion King and Brotherhood of the Wolf will be available on the site. Catalog titles also will run during the trial, including Erin Brockovich and Psycho.

"Universal recognizes that Internet video-on-demand is a growing distribution platform for feature films with increasing demand and revenue potential," said Holly Leff-Pressman, senior vice president of worldwide PPV and VOD. Universal is licensing the content to CinemaNow because it can offer its titles while testing the quality and security of the environment, said Leff-Pressman.

The video-on-demand distributor's proprietary PatchBay VOD technology will handle the content distribution in the trial, including digital and territorial rights protection, user profiling, pay-per-view and subscription services and detailed report generation.