Matt Strauss likes to pitch Mag Rack as the only programming unique to video-on-demand that helps give cable operators the true competitive edge over direct-broadcast-satellite providers. And it's hard to argue with him.

You can't find Mag Rack's unique niche content anywhere else ? not on basic or digital cable, premium network or multiplex platforms, not even in theaters.

A division of Rainbow Media Holdings, Mag Rack offers video channels ? or magazines, as the company calls them ? covering a wide range of topics, from as intricate a subject as the Art of Basketry to as vast a territory as Mission: Space. Strauss, Mag Rack's EVP and GM, explains that premium networks, which distribute their programming via multiplexed channels, merely redistribute that same content for video-on-demand.

?From a consumer perception I wonder if that is real valuable,? he says. ?Essentially, you're just time shifting your 12 networks and putting redundant content on your server.?

Enter Mag Rack. The programmer has 22 magazines, or themed categories, with an additional 18 magazines scheduled to launch by year-end. These video magazines target areas underserved by television, from niche interests to hobbies. The magazines were developed through research that identified passionate fans ? ideally, with deep pockets.

BirdSight, for example, offers expert advice and documentaries catering to the estimated 70 million bird-watchers in the U.S., says Strauss. The more passionate birders, he adds, spare no expense to chase down rare species, such as the green-breasted mango hummingbird. Other magazines include Cook With the Pros, hosted by restaurateur Drew Nieporent, owner of New York's Nobu and Tribeca Grill; SportsCamp, a virtual sports getaway for kids, parents and coaches; and Modern Parent, a parenting primer developed with the editors of print magazine American Baby.

All in all, it's a savvy strategy, say observers.

?There's a lot of momentum building behind the notion of content, the nonmovie content, being made available on demand,? says Larry Gerbrandt, chief content officer and senior analyst at Kagan World Media, the databook and newsletter publisher. ?It's informational programming that really hasn't been exploited on traditional television. If it is on cable, it's not accessible at times when people want to watch them.?

Strauss identified areas of interests already targeted by a print magazine and partnered with American Express Publishing, which owns such print magazines as Food & Wine, and Primedia, the parent company of Cable World, which also publishes consumer titles such as American Baby.

Mag Rack produces the video content for distribution directly to the cable system's head-end. It is not a 24-hour linear channel. Instead, the home viewer selects Mag Rack on an interactive program guide or electronic menu and then selects a magazine and a show to watch. Mag Rack seeks to refresh the content for most of its magazines on a weekly basis, Strauss notes.

Cablevision, which owns Mag Rack's parent, Rainbow, offers the video magazines to about 700,000 subscribers. In February, 47% of Cablevision's iO digital subscribers who had access to Mag Rack used the service, Strauss says. Although no other cable operators have signed the service since it launched in October, Time Warner Cable and Comcast are interested, according to executives for both companies.

Negotiating points include server capacity, Strauss says. If a cable operator only wants 50 hours, then Mag Rack can accommodate that. Rather than charge a la carte, or a specific fee per magazine, he wants the service bundled with a cable operator's digital package. While operators pay an undisclosed license fee ? which one source familiar with the service estimates is between 30 cents and 50 cents a subscriber ? Strauss prefers they offer it as a free VOD service muck like Comcast is doing with some basic cable networks for added value.

?How cable uses VOD is very important,? Strauss says. ?Because if you simply use VOD as a mechanism ? meaning you take shows and put them on a server and allow people to order them ? that's something that satellite can easily replicate. If you like Sex and the City and you like Law and Order, you can program your TiVo to get it for you, plus everything else.?

DBS providers have approached Mag Rack about offering the service via a personal video recorder, Strauss says. But he tells them, respectfully, no, for the time being.

?We're VOD-exclusive,? Strauss says. ?Not that I would ever want to turn my back on 17 million subscribers, but the fact that satellite can't at least technically offer VOD today, that makes us cable exclusive.?

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