Customer demand doubles in less than three years
TORONTO, April 6 /CNW/ - Rogers Cable Communications Inc. today announced
significant growth in the number of digital cable customers watching
programming On Demand. Since 2005, usage of the Rogers On Demand service has
more than doubled, growing from 50 million views in 2005 to over 100 million
views in 2008.Fast facts about Rogers On Demand:
- 5,000 unique titles and 5,300 hours of programming available;
- HD has more than doubled in uptake in the last year, with more than a
third of customers choosing to watch programming in HD over SD;
- Saturday is the most popular day to catch up on missed programming via
On Demand with 7pm being the time of day most people access the
library of shows;
- The Movie Network is the leading subscription-based service with over
100 million views since launch and over two million views each month;
- Most watched episodic programs are Family Guy, The Office and 30 Rock;
- Most popular single program watched is CNN's broadcast of Barack
Obama's Inauguration"We've seen a huge change in the viewing habits of our digital cable
customers in the last few years, and this is only the beginning," said David
Purdy, Vice President of Video Product Management, Rogers Cable. "We have
invested hundreds of millions of dollars in our network so we can continue to
deliver an innovative and enhanced TV experience that enables our customers to
enjoy the programming they want, in a way that most suits them. In the last
few months alone we've made almost a thousand hours of new episodic
programming available, redesigned the user interface and expanded our network
in rural areas to ensure more customers have access to our unique TV
offering."
Choice and breadth of programming
As part of Rogers commitment to bring more convenience and control to its
customers, Rogers has formed agreements with Citytv, Global and E! to deliver
the hottest, award-winning, primetime programming On Demand, and refreshed the
interface to be more intuitive and easy to navigate.
Now, Rogers Digital customers can (at no charge) catch up on their
favourite episodic programming, On Demand, within 72 hours of their original
air date. New primetime programming includes such hit shows as Chuck,
Privileged and 30 Rock from Citytv and Prison Break, Bones, House, The Office
and Heroes from Canwest.
Following the launch of HBO Canada, a new multiplex channel of The Movie
Network, additional HBO content is available On Demand at no extra charge to
subscribers of The Movie Network. Some of the current and upcoming HBO titles
on The Movie Network On Demand include Real Time with Bill Maher, Entourage,
True Blood and Little Britain USA, Chris Rock: Kill the Messenger and Ricky
Gervais: Out of England.
The Rogers On Demand library offers a wide variety of programming from
Hollywood movies, primetime television, television entertainment, music,
fitness, sports, Karaoke on Demand, Bollywood and children's programming.
Content partners include Universal Studios, Warner Brothers, Paramount, Sony
Pictures/Columbia Tri-Star, Disney, MGM and Canadian distributors such as
Alliance Films and Maple Pictures. As well as programming from Citytv,
Canwest, CTV, CBC, OMNI, Comedy Network, MuchMusic, MTV etc., etc. Rogers also
offers Subscription Video On Demand (SVOD) services from leading networks such
as The Movie Network, MPix, Superchannel, National Geographic, Food Network,
HGTV and Treehouse.
For more information about Rogers On Demand, visit
www.rogers.com/ondemandAbout Rogers Cable:
-------------------Rogers Cable Communications Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rogers
Communications Inc. (TSX: RCI; NYSE: RCI), a diversified Canadian
communications and media company. Rogers Cable's advanced digital two-way
network passes approximately 3.5 million homes in Ontario, New Brunswick and
Newfoundland, with 65% basic penetration of its homes passed. Rogers Cable
pioneered high speed Internet access and now 45% of homes passed by its cable
networks are Internet customers while 68% of its basic cable customers
subscribe to Rogers' Hi-Speed Internet service. With 67% digital penetration,
Rogers Cable offers a leading selection of High Definition TV programming, a
complete array of Rogers On Demand services (including Video on Demand (VOD),
Subscription VOD, Personal Video Recorders and Timeshifting channels), and an
extensive line-up of sports and multicultural programming. Rogers Cable now
offers home telephone service (voice-over-cable) to approximately 95% of its
cable territory and, combined with its circuit switched telephony subscribers,
has over 1 million local telephony customers. Rogers Cable is a national
provider of voice communications services, data networking, and broadband
Internet connectivity to small, medium and large businesses. In addition it
operates over 450 Rogers Retail stores.
Additional information on Rogers is available at www.rogers.com.