THERE'S A NEW GUIDE IN TOWN

BY JON LAFAYETTE

Moving into territory occupied by TV Guide, E! Networks has created a program for Comcast that's designed to be a guide to video-on-demand programming.

The show, called E! Presents Comcast On Demand, is set to launch later this month in Philadelphia. Hosted by E! personality Jules Asner, it will be updated weekly. The show will include clips and interviews with celebrities appearing in VOD programming, culled from the network's library.

Viewers will see the show when they select Comcast On Demand from the startup screen or by going to Channel 1, Comcast's VOD location.

In addition to pointing out programming choices, the show will let viewers know how to use the VOD feature.

?What we were looking to do is continuously improve the product we offer, and one way to do that is to help people become better educated in terms of what's on and how to use the product,? said Page Thompson, VP of marketing, new video products at Comcast. ?We thought they'd be an ideal partner.?

Thompson said there is some similarity to the programming highlights TV Guide Channel provides, ?except [the E! show] will be focusing on exactly what's hot on On Demand and telling people how to use it.? What's more, TV Guide doesn't ?have to explain how to use TV.?

E! thinks VOD is going to be an important part of the entertainment industry and sees this show as a way to get its foot in the promotional door.

?It's like from an acorn a great oak will grow,? said Gavin Harvey, E!'s SVP of marketing and brand director. ?This is a first step in what we think will be a long-term initiative to apply our resources, expertise, talent, Hollywood relationships, our library of information that we've done over the years, to help grow the category.?

Gemstar-TV Guide has its own VOD plans.

?TV Guide Channel has been aggressively developing its VOD promotion strategy and as of second quarter of this year will be fully enabled to deliver customized video-on-demand promotion around the hour on a head-end-by-head-end basis,? said Pam McKissick, president and COO of TV Guide Television.? We are developing a comprehensive, integrated marketing strategy for MSOs to promote the video-on-demand category across all of our guidance media platforms as well as the barker window within interactive program guides.?

E! is not receiving any cash for the show. ?We see this as an investment in getting our brand in the VOD space,? Harvey said.

E! is not among the networks providing free VOD content to Comcast's On Demand service.

If the on-demand show is successful at driving Comcast's VOD business, E! could offer to create similar programs for other operators.

?It's not exclusive at all,? Harvey said of the Comcast-E! arrangement. ?We've been focusing on Comcast [which owns a stake in E!]. We haven't talked to Comcast about taking it to other MSOs, and I've not had conversations with other MSOs.?

Other MSOs are still working out how to promote VOD. Time Warner Cable has an information channel and also ?answers on-demand? service. But it doesn't have any type of star-studded promotional programming focusing on VOD, a spokesperson said.

Comcast officially launched its On Demand service last month. In Philadelphia, where free content and Showtime VOD is available in addition to movies-on-demand, about 20% to 25% of digital customers use the service. In other markets, where only movies are available, the usage figure is 4% to 5%. And that's before a serious marketing effort kicked in.

?We are continuously looking to improve the product,? Thompson said, ?and this gives us one way to improve it.?