As expected, DirecTV will be first distributor for the much anticipated
Home Premiere premium VOD service, launching the offering with Sony
Pictures' Adam Sandler comedy Just Go With It on April 21, for $29.99.
A
handful of movie studios - Universal Pictures, Warner Brothers, 20th
Century Fox and Sony Pictures - are participating in Home Premiere,
which offers select movies about 60 days after their theatrical release
on demand for a premium price. Most on demand movies are available in
120- day windows after theatrical release for prices ranging from $4 to
$6 each.
Home Premiere titles will also be available for 48-hours, double the 24-hours most pay-per-view movies are allotted.
Warner Brothers has been testing the service for about a year and in February
parent Time Warner chairman and CEO Jeff Bewkes said the service would
be available sometime in the second quarter. Earlier this month, trade
publication Variety said the service would be available in mid-April.
While
DirecTV is the first out of the block, other distributors like Comcast
(which through its NBC Universal joint venture is part owner of
Universal Studios) are expected to follow suit shortly.
