DIVA Records 1 Millionth Consumer Purchase of Video-On-Demand Content

by Alan Sheckter, Smart TV & Sound news editor

DIVA, a leading video-on-demand (VOD) solutions provider for the cable TV industry, announced August 22 that its customers have collectively surpassed the 1 million mark for video-on-demand purchases. In the past two years, DIVA’s customers have benefited from a skyrocketing number of VOD buys, from approximately 200 in 1999, to 1 million buys today –
an increase in the past year of more than 400 percent, the company said. A significant high-water mark, 1 million VOD purchases is another validation of the rapidly increasing on-demand evolution — in which consumers are no longer limited to traditional broadcast schedules. VOD allows them to choose what programming they want to watch and when they want to watch it.

Not only has DIVA claimed the milestone millionth customer, but the company said it has captured more than 60 percent of the commercially deployed VOD markets in the United States.

DIVA’s solutions, a complete suite of VOD management software running on a cost-effective delivery platform, as well as billing, content management, and technical support, are marketed to cable operators. The DIVA solutions function on both the Motorola and Scientific Atlanta platforms, and are integrated with all the major cable industry billing systems and electronic program guides.

According to a recent report from Forrester Research, on-demand TV content will account for 40 percent of cable viewers’ TV time by 2006,generating $7.8 billion in additional VOD revenues for cable operators.