Comcast Hits 500 HD VOD Titles, Next Target Infinity

Comcast now has 500 HD VOD choices available, including both movies and TV shows from the likes of Showtime, Encore, MoviePlex and Starz and plans to hit the 1000 mark by the end of the year. If you remember back to CES in Vegas, Comcast announced Project Infinity which outlined the company's plan to have 1000 HD titles in their library by the end of '08 and ramp up in 2009 to have 3000 fresh HD VOD titles available each month! It looks like they're well on their way.

COO of Comcast, Stephen Burke, says Project Infinity is just scratching the surface of the full potential of on-demand programming and the future could include subscription VOD, electronic sell-through applications, and of course advertising targeted right to you. Eventually the company wants to make every piece of linear content available on-demand and experiment with allowing subscribers to DVR primetime TV.

And Comcast better get VOD right, because on-demand programming is one of the only features keeping cable subscribers from heading to satellite and telco competitors.

Update: After the jump you can check out a press release we received from Comcast PR.

Via Broadcasting & Cable

COMCAST HITS 500 HD CHOICES

PROVIDING CONSUMERS WITH THE MOST HD CONTENT AVAILABLE ANYWHERE, ANYTIME

Up to Four Times More HD Offerings from Showtime, Starz, Encore and MoviePlex

PHILADELPHIA, PA - May 19, 2008 - Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSK, CMCSA), the nation's leading provider of entertainment, information and communications, today announced it has more than 500 high-definition (HD) choices available at any given time and is significantly increasing HD video-on-demand (VOD) movie and television series programming from Showtime, Encore, MoviePlex and Starz. With this content increase, the company strengthens its leadership position in offering more HD movies and programming than anyone else. The company also continues to deliver on its commitment to provide exponentially more choice on TV, including more HD, movies, sports, kids' programs and network TV, first announced at this year's Consumer Electronics Show as Project Infinity.

"This month, we're adding the most HD content ever," said Derek Harrar, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Video Services for Comcast. "We're working with top premium channels like Showtime and Starz to add hundreds of entertainment options in the categories consumers say they want the most...HD movies and television shows."

Through this increased content offering, Comcast added more than 150 hours of premium-channel HD programming to its current line-up, which includes:

Showtime added 4x more HD movie and television series hours with hit original shows like "Dexter," "The Tudors" and "Weeds" and movies like Casino Royale and Babel.

Starz added 4x more HD movie hours with Meet the Robinsons, Ratatouille, Déjà vu, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End and Spider-ManTM 3.

MoviePlex added 3x more HD movie hours of tried-and-true favorites including Dazed and Confused, Wes Craven's New Nightmare, Cry-Baby and Field of Dreams.

Encore added 2x more HD movie hours with new and old favorites like Jumanji, Pulp Fiction, Step Up, Dirty Dancing and The Guardian.

Adding movie and television content supports recent research findings commissioned by Comcast that showed consumers want to watch HD movies and TV shows on their schedules, not by appointment viewing on linear television (When viewers were asked about their favorite things to watch in HD: 79 percent of people who liked "movies" said they prefer to watch them on their own schedule, while 63 percent of people who liked "TV shows" said they prefer to watch them on their own schedule*).

In addition to the largest line-up of HD movie choices available on its video-on-demand (VOD) service, Comcast On Demand also offers many more television series and special programming in May. Currently, Comcast's VOD lineup offers more than 10,000 selections each month, with Comcast customers selecting On Demand more than 100 times per second with over 300 million views per month.

Feature Films Also Available On Demand this Month - ALL IN HD

P.S. I Love You

http://www.fancast.com/movies/P.S.-I-Love-You/95991/main

Lions for Lambs

http://www.fancast.com/movies/Lions-for-Lambs/96331/main

The Guardian

http://www.fancast.com/movies/The-Guardian/94206/main

Sweeny Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

http://www.fancast.com/movies/Sweeney-Todd%3A-The-Demon-Barber-of-Fleet-Street/96214/main

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

http://www.fancast.com/movies/Walk-Hard%3A-The-Dewey-Cox-Story/96190/main

There Will Be Blood

http://www.fancast.com/movies/There-Will-Be-Blood/94675/main

The Water Horse: Legends of the Deep

http://www.fancast.com/movies/The-Water-Horse/96711/main

The Golden Compass

http://www.fancast.com/movies/The-Golden-Compass/94582/main

About Comcast Corporation

Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) (http://www.comcast.com) is the nation's leading provider of entertainment, information and communications products and services. With 24.7 million cable customers, 14.1 million high-speed Internet customers, and 5.2 million voice customers, Comcast is principally involved in the development, management and operation of broadband cable systems and in the delivery of programming content.

Comcast's content networks and investments include E! Entertainment Television, Style Network, The Golf Channel, VERSUS, G4, PBS KIDS Sprout, TV One, ten Comcast SportsNet networks and Comcast Interactive Media, which develops and operates Comcast's Internet business. Comcast also has a majority ownership in Comcast-Spectacor, whose major holdings include the Philadelphia Flyers NHL hockey team, the Philadelphia 76ers NBA basketball team and two large multipurpose arenas in Philadelphia.

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*Source: The study was conducted for Comcast via EXCEL telephone omnibus by ICR, an independent research company. Interviews were conducted from 11/20/07 to 11/25/07 among a nationally representative sample of 662 adults who either own an HDTV or are interested in high definition television. The margin of error is +/- 3.8%