In an effort to better serve its digital-cable affiliates, In Demand will launch two new digital barker caages, only a small percentage of operators could access the service.
Now, affiliates offering In Demand channels 1 through 22 and 1 through 30 will each have barker channels to promote near-video-on-demand offerings.
In Demand decided to create the additional channels after requests from affiliates that weren't offering all 34 In Demand channels. Bolton said that of In Demand' s 5 million digital subscribers, only 1.5 million had access to digital barker services.
"The ones that weren't able to carry all of the channels on all of the transponders very much wanted a digital barker channel," Bolton said. "With the two new barker channels, we' ll be serving more than one-half of our audience with the barker channels, where before, it was only a minority."
All of the barker services will be time-specific and will emphasize the upcoming next movie or event, she said. The L-shape barker services will also highlight movies with half-hour start times.
In Demand affiliates carrying channels 1 through 22 will receive the digital barker channel on Loral T7, transponder 2. Those carrying 1 through 30 will use the channel on Loral T7, transponder 3, which promotes all 30 channels.
Affiliates carrying the full In Demand 34-channel lineup will continue to use the barker on Loral T7, transponder 4, the network said.
