As video-on-demand (VOD) becomes an increasingly important distribution channel for new release and catalog entertainment, Terry Denson, Vice President – FiOS TV Content Strategy & Acquisition, will be presenting an overview of the telecom giant's current home entertainment business and its strategy for the future at Entertainment Supply Chain Academy (ESCA) in June. 

Now in 400,000 households, and growing at a clip of 2,000 per day, Verizon's fully-digital service provides over 8,000 titles directly to consumers in over ten markets.  As VOD increases in consumer awareness, due to Comcast's penetration in 30 million households nationwide, how the home video industry coexists and actually profits from this emerging distribution channel will be the theme of Denson's keynote presentation. 

"We are creating a new market...a new opportunity for the studios," he explains. "The nice thing about video on demand is that it is a rental in its purest form; it provides 24-hour a day usage, the reporting is accurate and the revenue, depending on who you are dealing with, is almost instant.  Importantly for the ESCA attendees, if the studios and operators work together in a partnership, we can find ways to use this channel to promote retail products."

Denson is responsible for Verizon FiOS TV content-strategy as well as video-content acquisition and partnership management, where he directs creation and implementation of the company’s video product packaging, pricing and marketing strategies and video content acquisitions.   

"Early on studios were reluctant to participate in VOD because they didn't want to jeopardize their retail revenue stream.  Today you have a meaningful business and with digital rights management is in place, it is a win/win for the operator and the studio. We've actually grown the market. VOD can be used to promote studios and movies and keep them relevant." 

Denson's keynote message will emphasize that, from a creative perspective, the operators and studios have a new opportunity to create an additional market -- whether it is a studio-specific subscription service (i.e., the Sony Club) or e-commerce enabled programming. Verizon technologies that are on the horizon will provide content holders with opportunities to upsell the consumer the DVD, provide them with a retail incentive, or offer them merchandise.  Integrated platforms with the Verizon mobile networks will also be able to deliver trailers or clips similar to those the company created in cooperation with the Tribeca Film Festival in New York in May. 

"Obviously, risk assessment is the primary issue when we sit down with a content provider.  But once we start looking at VOD as its own platform with important ancillary revenue, two reasonable parties can usually solve the initial business challenge and create an entirely new business model for profitable digital distribution."