How Do Movies On Demand Work?
Movies On Demand (MOD) is a subset of Video On Demand (VOD), a service offered by most cable television providers. A person can access VOD through his cable remote. On almost every cable system, VOD is located on channel 1. Simply press 1, and the VOD menu appears. VOD can also be accessed through the cable online video guide. After pressing the ‘Guide’ button on the remote, the user can navigate to the VOD channel.
What’s on ‘Movies On Demand’?
The main screen for Video On Demand offers many choices including: top picks, TV series, and sport & fitness. This screen also offers access for two Movie On Demand channels: ‘movies’ and ‘free movies’. The viewer can use the arrow keys on the remote to navigate to the appropriate choice. When the proper choice is highlighted, pressing the remote’s enter key will open the channel.
Image by Jeremy Toeman via Flickr
As the name indicates, the free movie channel offers free movies. At this point, one has several selection paths to choose. One can search ‘All Movies A-L’ or ‘All Movies M-Z’. On the other hand, one can search movies by categories. Drama, comedy, action, and family are some of the categories provided. One can also search for movies originally aired on certain movie channels such as TNT, Sundance, or the Independent Film Channel.
After one selects the search path, the movies are listed in alphabetical order. The arrow keys and the page up and page down keys allow one to navigate through the list of films. The user can obtain a short synopsis of each of the films by pressing the enter key. The running time of the particular film and the film’s major stars are listed. The year the film was released gives an indication of the vintage of the movie. The listing will also clearly restate that the film is free. One can choose to view the film or return to the list of films.
Movies On Demand: Free or not?
It may not be obvious, but some movies on demand are available after selecting the Premium Channels out of the main VOD screen. The Premium Channel screen offers access to Home Box Office (HBO), Showtime, Starz, and other premium channels. Each of these premium-on-demand selections offers a good selection of MOD. The movies are free to subscribers of the premium channels. HBO and Showtime have many additional on-demand selections in addition to the movies.
The movie selection on the main VOD screen allows access to Pay-Per-View (PPV) films, although PPV is a term seldom used today. These films generally charge a fee for viewing. However, the cable subscriber can select ‘Trailers and Reviews’ to obtain a free preview of most offered films. This free trailer will give the cable subscriber a very good idea about whether he wants to pay to watch the film. Conversely, a movie can be selected out of the categories ‘Just In’, ‘All New Movies’, or ‘By Genre’.
The ‘By Genre’ path is more comprehensive than the similar ‘Category’ path for free movies. Of course, it has ‘Action’, ‘Comedy’, and ‘Drama’. But it also has the family categories of ‘Family’, ‘Kids’, and ‘Animation’. An ‘Adult’ genre is available. Other categories include ‘Crime’, ‘Fantasy’, ‘Mystery’, ‘Romance’, ‘Horror’, ‘War’, ‘Thriller’, and ‘Western’. There are many more pay-per-view movies than free ones. This is one of the reasons for the greater number of genre categories. There must be a large enough number of categories ensuing a manageable number of films in each list.
When a viewer selects a film, a short synopsis is displayed. The cost for viewing the film is prominently displayed as part of the synopsis. It is important to remember that not all movies cost the same amount, and the average charge per movie is likely to increase year to year. Almost all films have a free preview. One is under no obligation to purchase a license to view the movie after watching the preview. Like the free-movie synopsis, these short reviews also list the major stars and the year of the film’s release. To watch the film, the cable subscriber must select ‘BUY’, an icon that clearly indicates the film is not free to view. There is little chance that a cable subscriber will mistake a PPV-film for a free movie.
If a cable subscriber, however, makes a mistake while viewing the Movies On Demand menu, he or she only needs to call the cable company to rectify the error. If the viewer clicks on ‘BUY’ in error, he should not view the movie, but call the cable provider. The charge for the movie will not appear on the person’s bill.
When a person purchases a Movie On Demand, he has access to the film for a full 24 hours. He can watch the film as many times as he wants during that day. The remote also allows the view the stop, pause, rewind or fast forward the film. So there is no worry about missing a part of a purchased MOD film because of a phone call or the demands of children or pets. Just stop or pause the film. When circumstances allow, the viewer can either continue at the point the film was stopped or start watching the film at the beginning.
The pause button on the remote, which is symbolized by two short vertical parallel lines, will freeze the film on the television screen. Pressing the play button, symbolized by a small triangle, will allow the film to resume. The stop button is symbolized by a square, and it temporarily ends the viewing of the movie. If the movie is not restarted after a few minutes after a pause has been selected, the system automatically issues a stop command. To restart a stopped movie, the cable subscriber must navigate the Video-On-Demand menu to find saved programs. A stopped PPV movie will remain in the saved program category for the remainder of the 24-hour rental period.
Movies On Demand allow cable subscribers the most convenient way to watch late-released films. All of Hollywood’s blockbusters and the majority of niche films are available on MOD. The movies are generally available at the same time they can be purchased on DVD or Blu-Ray. The cost of the latest MOD is a fraction of the Blu-Ray purchase price, and only a very few movies would be viewed repeatedly. MOD allows the cable subscriber to watch a movie when he or she wants and allows the movie to be stopped or paused if an interruption should arise. Movies On Demand is clearly an economical and convenient service delivered by the cable provider.
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