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By Mavis Scanlon
Small networks trying to gain traction may not be enthralled by an innovation that's supposed to ease access to on-demand programming. A so-called flip bar that pops up on a linear channel and links directly to that channel's on-demand programming actually may keep viewers from checking out new programming.
If, as research indicates, the average television viewer sticks to just over a dozen favorite channels, then the flip-bar method of accessing on-demand content will boost VOD for popular networks. By not going through a menu system to access on demand, viewers won't be distracted by other programming.
Apparently, the flip bar has a not-so-good flip side for emerging networks.
"Channels that don't have a good linear following are going to have to find ways to promote to users their on-demand content to get them to actually seek it out," says Todd Walker, SVP and GM, TV Guide Television Group. "So if I'm a [small, digital VOD-only network] and I don't have a linear counterpart, I may be limited to the people who are going to go through a menu structure" to access on demand.
Of course, the Television Group has a remedy. With its new I-Guide, viewers can link directly to a network's on-demand submenu or directly to an on-demand program or preview by clicking on a banner ad on the bottom of the screen (which replaces panel ads that previously resided on the left of the screen).
"Obviously, there is a fee associated with that," Walker notes, "but it's an opportunity that content providers in the on-demand space didn't have before because none of our ads linked to on-demand content.
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