TV on demand by Film1 and Sport1 competes surprisingly strong with downloads

Paying for TV is not a popular concept in the Netherlands. Payd television channels Sport7, Canal Plus and Supernova flopped hopelessly. Yet, Film1 and Sport1 seem to have found a formula for success in the past three years. This Friday, they reported a growing number of paying subscribers for the third consecutive year.<o:p></o:p><o:p> </o:p>

The growth is made possible by offering 'on demand' products, say Will Moerer (Sport1) and Casper Keller (Film1). This is remarkable, as film and sport have not proven to be suitable content for successful pay-TV channels in The Netherlands in the last 15 years.<o:p></o:p>

Movies can simply be downloaded for free at any time. A paid subscription for movies on demand seems to be of little use for a consumer. The principle of buying a broadcast that you just missed is not popular for live sports events, because by the time you’re able to watch the footage, all scores and results are already out there. From my own experience I can assure you that, nowadays, it is a true struggle to try and avoid finding out a match result on the news, radio, your smartphone or in the pub. Also, for many people a game of soccer, tennis or a Formula 1 Grand Prix simply takes up too much time to sit down and watch at a later stage.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p> </o:p>Yet, Film1 and Sport1 are doing better and better. How do they manage this?<o:p></o:p>Moerer and Keller believe in setting up thematic channels, they told Dutch newspaper Spits. Film1 has a channel for newly released films, an action channel and ‘family’ or 'alternative' movie channels. Sport1 also works this way, offering soccer, golf, tennis, etcetera, on separate channels.

Both stations avoid annoying advertising breaks as much as possible. The sports channel now focuses mainly on live events. This clearly offers added value to other broadcasters that often did not acquire copyrights for broadcasting an event. In addition, the “on demand” products are very carefully chosen. There is no "on demand" version of live matches, for the reasons already stated. They do have summaries and highlights on demand. In the films section, it is also the convenience of on-demand television that is attractive to the customer. However, the high quality of Film1 broadcasts is the main reason people prefer Film1 over downloading movies.

The average living room tv is becoming more modern. Audio and video quality is more important on newer TVs than it was ten years ago. <o:p></o:p>With the number of digital TV connections increasing in The Netherlands, the potential audience for on demand television services is still growing. The traditional inhibitions to purchasing additional TV channels seem to disappear and now it is up to smart broadcasters to show what the added value of pay-TV is to the general public. Sport1 and Film1 are definitely ready for the digital future.<o:p></o:p>