An article on LightReading gave comments from a Starz! executive about the impact of Vongo, its Internet download service, on its subscription movie channel. From 70 to 76 percent of Vongo customers don't get Starz or another premium network such as HBO or Showtime as part of their cable or satellite TV service. In addition, 20 to 25 percent of Vongo's subscribers do not subscribe to a cable or satellite multichannel video service, opting instead to get their fill of video via broadband and from DVD rental services such as Netflix.
The Vongo service is predominantly used by men with an average age of 38, and to consumers with homes teeming with multiple computers and other electronic devices. From 30 to 36 percent of Vongo's subscribers base is viewing Vongo content on their TV screens. The quality on the TV screen is somewhere between the DVD and VHS. Vongo encodes video at about 1.3 Mbit/s using Windows Media.
Starz would like to see Vongo offered with cable and TelcoTV services. It stated that there are negotiations going on in that regard.
These results are interesting from a couple of respects. First, the average age is well beyond the 20's that most people expect will be the predominant users of these services. This means that there a lot of people in their 40s or even 50s using Vongo.
The other interesting fact is the number of people watching Vongo content on their TVs. These people are connecting Windows PCs or Xboxes to their TV to accomplish this. This means to me that this is a pretty technically savvy group of people.
Our report The Battle for Broadband TV covers these issues and predicts that services are likely to hook up with TelcoTV service providers. You can download a free white paper to see what we think about this.
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