Academy Award-nominated movies A Star is Born and Bohemian Rhapsody will make their on demand premieres in February, according to on demand distributor In demand.

A Star Is Born, nominated for nine awards including best picture, will debut on most MVPD on demand lineups on Feb. 19, according to In Demand.

Bohemian Rhapsody, with five Oscar nominations including best picture, will premiere via on demand Feb. 12.

Other major studio films making their on demand debuts in February include:

Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch -- PG (Universal) Feb. 5

Widows -- R (Fox) Feb. 5

Robin Hood --PG-13 (Lionsgate) Feb. 19

Ralph Breaks the Internet -- PG (Disney) Feb. 26

Comcast last week signed a deal creating a premium commercial-free on-demand service with FX Networks.

The deal comes at a time when, according to Matt Strauss, executive vice president and general manager, video and entertainment services at Comcast Cable, there’s probably more high-quality original programming available than in the history of television.

Comcast will see more than 4 billion hours of on-demand usage this year and Strauss said the cable operator will continue to invest to provide instant gratification and to blur the lines between what’s live, what’s on-demand, what’s on your DVR and what’s over-the-top. Strauss talked to Multichannel News contributor Jon Lafayette about what Comcast is thinking as it launches premium services. Here’s an edited excerpt of their conversation.

MCN:Based on the AMC Premiere and the FX+ announcements, have you found a segment of your customers who don’t like watching commercials?
Matt Strauss: We think of ourselves as the aggregator of aggregators. We want to have all of the choices and the best choices available in one place. In many ways, that is why we put Netflix on X1 and we’re putting YouTube on X1 later this year.

At the same time, DVRs are now at 50% penetration of the market and in many ways, it gives you control, it gives you the ability to fast-forward through ads or, if you have cloud DVR, we give our customers the ability to stream their DVR recordings or download their DVR recordings, so in many ways this is just another choice.

There is a segment of viewers who would be willing to pay an incremental fee for a more premium experience. They do that today with premium channels. They do that today with [subscription video-on-demand] services.

Commercial-free is one piece of it. If somebody really wanted that premium experience — had the ability to, in one place, catch up from the beginning and have the most comprehensive catalogue of FX programming — it really didn’t exist. And now, with our technology and through our partnership with FX, we have the ability to offer FX subscribers the option to a more premium experience.

MCN:Did you do consumer research on the demand for commercial-free options?
MS: We have done research on this. There’s absolutely a segment of the population that would be willing to pay an incremental fee for a commercial-free experience. We’ve been offering electronic sell-through now for years and in a relatively short amount of time we’ve actually become one of the largest digital retailers in the country. So we’ve even seen it first-hand where people are willing to pay $3 an episode. So there’s both research and there been some actual transactional data that has led us to believe that there is a segment — it’s not everybody — who is willing to pay extra.

MCN:How big is that segment?
MS: It’s hard to say only because it depends on the network and the passion index of the network.

But there’s something even bigger at work here, which is it’s providing the networks a sandbox to experiment with different models and to potentially provide also a mechanism for them to reclaim rights or to aggregate more rights or to experiment with more original programming, and to do it in a way that we think is going to really benefit our customers.

MCN:What have you learned since adding Netflix to X1?
MS: Since we’ve added Netflix, I think we’ve seen all boats rise. We’ve seen an increase in total on-demand consumption. We’ve seen an increase in total viewership on our platform and as a result we’ve also seen many networks see an increase in their viewership because we have even more eyeballs using on-demand.

So I think as we continue to offer more and more choices — but also do it in a way that it is contextually integrated — I think that the key on the X1 platform, whether it’s the voice remote, whether it’s our recommendations and the personalization, it’s how do we snap this all together in one place.

It also gives us the ability to contextually offer somebody a subscription, so if you’re watching American Horror Story, you’re going to be able to go to X1, it’s live, you’ll be able to now watch it on-demand for free with ads and there will be another choice that says would you like to subscribe to FX+ and watch it ad-free or watch all the prior episodes and the prior seasons?

You’re seeing those elements all come together in a way that’s redefining what you should expect to get when you subscribe to pay TV and certainly kind of surprising; it’s delighting our customers when they have a platform like X1.

MCN:Did your ad sales folks object to the commercial-free services?
MS: I can’t comment on that. I think though that it ultimately has to start with the customer and the viewer giving them the choices.

And if you look at our technology, technology has continued to evolve and that means that we have to challenge the status quo, even if that means in some cases disrupting ourselves. … We’ve always been very bullish on giving customers more choice and creating the technology to add more value to pay TV and we’re not going to stop that.

Smithsonian Channel on Thursday said it will offer 10 hours of 4K programming on demand beginning in April, saying it's the first linear network to offer ultra-high-definition content on demand.

Smithsonian said it will provide 4K documentaries and shows for free to subscribers through their MVPD providers beginning in second quarter 2017. The network added that it is working with top cable, satellite and telco distributors to launch the on demand programming.

“We’re proud to be the first US network to offer this 4K On Demand model,” Tom Hayden, president of Smithsonian Channel (part of CBS-owned Showtime Networks), said in a release. “With programming genres including air and space, history, nature, wildlife and travel at its finest, our new 4K model is sure to enhance the viewing experience, providing striking visuals for our consumers.”

Subscription video on demand services like Netflix and Hulu for the first time have matched penetration levels for DVR’s in U.S.TV households, according to the latest Nielsen Total Audience Report.

Nielsen’s first quarter 2016 report stated that both SVOD services and DVR reached the 50% penetration mark, the first time SVOD services have caught up with DVR numbers. Yet the increase of SVOD penetration hasn’t completely cannibalized DVR penetration – close to 30% of homes have both a DVR and access to at least one SVOD services, up nearly 20% from last year, according to Nielsen. 

Overall, total media consumption during 1Q 2016 has increased by one hour of overall time spent being consumed per day over different devices and platforms compared to the prior year, said Nielsen. On the flip side, the amount of live TV viewing declined, but not nearly as rapidly as in previous years. Viewers watched about 3 minutes less live TV during the first quarter 2016 compared to the same period in 2015, which was less than the decline of 16 minutes experienced in 2015 and 2016, according to Nielsen.

ESPN will bring bolwers and batsmen to U.S. fans with its live and on-demand coverage of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2015.

The 49-match tournament, running from Feb. 13 through March 29, will be available via subscription streaming service, ESPNcricket2015.com, which bows on Feb. 3. All of the matches will be available live and on replay for $99.99, in both English and Hindi. ESPN is only selling the package on a full subscription basis.

Additionally, ESPN has reached agreements with Dish Network, Mediacom and Time Warner Cable to make all 49 matches available live and in the high-definition format to their subscribers via each company’s pay-per-view platform. The disributors will set their own pricing structures and their packages include all 49 matches in English, plus ESPN’s flagship 30-minute pre- and post- match studio program ESPNcricinfo Match Point .  Fans can subscribe by contacting the operators or ordering through their set-top box.

The ICC Cricket World Cup from Sydney, Australia comprises a 14-nation pool competing in One Day International matches.  The schedule is available here.

ESPNcricket2015.com will launch live and begin taking subscriptions on Feb. 3.  Fans subscribe online, and can then watch matches on ESPNcricket2015.com or download and watch on the ESPN Cricket 2015 app for iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, launching on Feb. 11.

For ESPN's $99.99 subscription fee, fans receive complete coverage including all matches with English and Hindi-language commentary streams, full and condensed (60-minute) replays on-demand and the ESPN’s flagship pre-, post- and mid-innings studio program ESPNcricinfo Match Point. ESPNcricinfo’s Match Point will be televised three times daily from on-site overlooking Sydney Harbour. Each show will  range from 15 to 30 minutes, and will be hosted by Isa Guha and Raunak Kapoor. Joining them will be a panel of international experts including Michael Holding, Jonathon Trott and Ajit Agarkar.

“The Cricket World Cup is a unique event and we are excited to deliver it to fans in a new and unique way with the launch of ESPNcricket2015.com and our agreements with Dish Network, Mediacom and Time Warner Cable,” said Russell Wolff, executive vice president, ESPN. “As a complement to our core networks and the value of the multichannel environment, the launch of ESPNcricket2015.com is a dynamic way for us to deliver this event while continuing to explore with new ways to reach tech-savvy consumers and develop new expertise and agility in a dynamic media environment.”

Expanding on its Watchathon initiative, Comcast is providing its video subscribers with a week-long opportunity to catch up on some of the best that cable has to offer via live viewing and an array of on-demand fare.

The Free Channel Week extends from Sept. 22 and Sept. 28 and affords Xfinity TV Digital customers unlimited access across myriad devices to thousands of TV shows and movies from more than 30  channels.

The programming play, aimed at providing sampling and ultimately customer acquisition, encompasses Encore, A&E, AMC, Disney XD, Disney Junior, Food Network, FX, History, Lifetime, Movieplex, MLB Network, National Geographic Channel, Nick Jr., Sprout, Sundance, Syfy, TNT, TBS and USA Network, among others.

The initiative, which builds on Comcast’s highly successful Watchathon on-demand gambit by adding live viewing to the mix, will give Xfinity customers a chance to reacquaint themselves with or watch some of cable’s most successful programming for the first time during broadcast’s premiere week, including AMC’s zombie hit, The Walking Dead, FX’s biker skein, Sons of Anarchy, and TNT’s summer hit, The Last Ship.

Free Channel Week also has kids (and parent) appeal with access to Nick Jr.’s Paw Patrol and Disney XD classics like Lab Rats and Phineas and Ferb, while sports fans can check out the final week of the 2014 baseball season’s pennant chases, via coverage on MLB Network.

The nation’s leader distributor provided details about Free Channel Week on its "Comcast Voices" blog.

Outlander fans can get out in front of the new series on Starz.

Continuing its varied gambits to generate buzz, sampling and ultiimately viewing, the premium channel will give fans of the show, which is being adapted from Diana Gabaldon’s international best-selling books and executive-produced by Ronald Moore (Battlestar Galactica), a chance to watch the show’s first episode on various platforms, a week before it makes its linear debut.

Starz CEO Chris Albrecht, in advance of the programmer’s July 11 presentation at the Television Critics Association at the Beverly Hilton, said that free sampling of the pilot will begin on August 2 via myriad affiliate on-demand vehicles and online outlets. Outlander is slated to open on Starz on Saturday, August 9 at 9 p.m. (ET/PT).

Albrecht also noted that the Starz plans to show the first eight episodes of Outlander’s initial campaign on consecutive Saturday nights in that time slot through Sept. 27, with its second half scheduled to resume early in 2015.

All told, some 82 million multichannel video households will have access to the premiere episode via additional linear, on-demand and/or online sampling opportunities on select cable, satellite and telco affiliates in the United States, as well as online through select websites. including Starz.com/Outlander, the Starz “Outlander” Twitter page, Starz's YouTube page, the Starz 'Outlander' Facebook page, and the free Starz Play app.

Distributors offering the first installment on their free-on-demand platforms include Comcast, DirecTV, Dish, Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS, Charter, Bright House, Mediacom, CenturyLink and various members of the National Cable Television Cooperative.

Starz has supported the launch of key original series like Black Sailsand Power, as well as the sophomore run of DaVinci's Demons, with various on-demand, digital and experential marketing initiatives. 

"We've heard from fans the world over who are anxiously awaiting to see how we’ve brought Claire and Jamie to life in what may possibly be the most highly anticipated series in Starz history,” said Albrecht. "Our Outlander sampling strategy serves the dual purpose of giving early access to the series premiere for those fans thirsting to watch it as soon as possible, as well as providing a vehicle that introduces the Starz experience to prospective new subscribers who are eager to learn all about this great new series."

The series, adapted from Gabaldon’s international best-selling books by Moore (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: The Next Generation), follows the story of Claire Randall (Caitriona Balfe), a married combat nurse from 1945, who is mysteriously transported to 1743. In this unknown world, her life is threatened. But when she is forced to marry Jamie Fraser (Sam Heughan), a chivalrous and romantic young Scottish warrior, a passionate relationship is ignited and she is torn between two vastly different men and irreconcilable lives.

Outlander is produced by Tall Ship Productions, Story Mining & Supply Company and Left Bank Pictures in association with Sony Pictures Television.

Looking to tap into the book series’ fervid fan base, Starz recently launched the OutlanderCommunity.com microsite, a social destination that aggregates the latest related content across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, fan blogs and more. The platform promotes exclusive show content and deepens the consumer’s connection with the show and fan community.

The site, which Starz said drew more than 138,000  page views with users spending an average of 4 minutes on, features new and ongoing activities for users to share via social media including the “I Love #Outlander Because…” activity and an "apothecary cabinet" that allows users to explore the plants and herbs used during the 1700s when modern medicine wasn’t available. Users will find 14 different plants that were used to treat everything from warts and corns to heart attacks and infection. 

Starz is also giving fans a chance to learn how to “Speak Outlander” with the "Gaelic expert" feature on the Starz YouTube page, featuring cast members from the set in Scotland. Twelve words and/or phrases are featured in these lessons, including “Sassenach,” “Sàinte Mhath!” “Je Suis Prest” and “Craigh na Dun.”

New York – The traditional living room television set appears to still be holding its grip on the U.S. viewing public, but how pay TV customers utilize other screens like tablets, smartphones and laptop computers, is just as much a factor of where they are as who they are, according to a panel of industry pros at the Multichannel News On Demand Summit here Thursday.

“TV is still king,” said Vubiquity chief marketing officer Laure Lawrence at a panel discussion entitled “The Consumer Roundtable: Experiencing On Demand,” and moderated by Multichannel News technology editor Jeff Baumgartner. She added that according to Vubiquity research, about 85% of TV viewing is still done on the primary screen, the television set in the home. About 10% of that viewing is time-shifted and 7% to 9% of viewing is on devices like tablets and smartphones.

But BuddyTV CEO and founder Andy Liu said a lot of that depends on where the viewer is at the time. If they are at home, they tend to watch the family TV set, but he added that if the viewer is streaming content, they tend to do that on tablets or smartphones no matter where they are because the authentication process is easier on smaller devices than on the TV.

And viewers are using those devices differently. While in the past may networks and distributors scrambled to develop social media apps and technologies to let viewers interact with their TVs and their friends concerning individual shows, now thy are using their smartphones and tablets to check e-mail and look up information on the Internet.

“Social interaction allows them to continue their social life while they’re watching TV,” said Stingray Digital senior vice president of marketing and communication Mathieu Peloquin.

Liu agreed, adding that social media sites are changing how viewers are finding shows.

“What is an interesting trend now is social media is driving discovery,” Liu said, adding that in the past a viewer may have found out about a show through an advertisement on another ‘program or during big event shows like the Super Bowl. “Today, why we’re watching 90% of the time is because I was peer pressured into watching it.”

He pointed to the HBO hit “Game of Thrones,” adding that the show has gotten so much buzz and water cooler talk that it has practically shamed non-watchers into becoming viewers just to keep up with the conversation.

But while On Demand and TV Everywhere is helping viewers catch up on shows, it has to be easier to use. Peloquin said that his company is getting ready to roll out an authentication technology in Canada that will allow a pay TV customer to authenticate their service merely by placing their smartphone next to their TV speaker that would last for 90 days.  

And sometimes easier means coming up with a more unique way of allowing users to navigate through all the content that is on demand. Liu said BuddyTV calls its content categories “Vibes” and doesn’t groups shows by traditional headings.

“Things like ‘comedy’ and ‘drama’ and ‘action’ don’t resonate as much as ‘Redneck Buddies’ or ‘Underwater Terror,’” Liu said, “[Viewers would] rather browse thru things that resonate with [them] based on [their] mood.

Lawrence said that viewers increasingly are demanding the ability to download shows and play them later on different devices, which could provide an edge for traditional multichannel video programming distributors against their over-the-top competitors.

“That’s a game-changer,” Lawrence said.

Even binging, or watching entire seasons of particular shows in one sitting is changing the panelists said.

Miner & Co. Studio president Robert Miner said that while binging was once a solo endeavor, it has become a “bonding ritual” for younger viewers.

Lawrence added that MVPDs are beginning to realize that On Demand and TV Everywhere viewers are high-value customers who are willing to pay for more convenience and better functionality.

“These are the customers you want,” Lawrence said. She added that will become increasingly important as the number of people who access on demand increases during the coming years.

While Lawrence does not believe linear TV will go away, she agreed with the other panelists that On Demand could make up about 30% of all TV viewing over the next three years, about triple its current level.