With
many viewers relying on video-on-demand services to watch their
favorite shows, many TV execs are faced with a tough balancing act, says The New York Times.
Execs
are worried about threatening traditional ad dollars and syndication
rights. With VOD rapidly evolving, the industry is having a tough time
figuring out what to do; currently there are no standards about when new
programming should be available on VOD.
ABC's hit series Modern Family
is not available for VOD, as only some of the network's shows are
available, and even that was only after the network completed its
renewal negotiations. For NBC, shows like The Office are available on demand but come with commercials that cannot be skipped. TNT only lets viewers watch Men of a Certain Age online after a week of the episode's airing. CBS on the other hand, offers Hawaii Five-0 with little commercials, which can be fast-forwarded.
Brad
Adgate, SVP of research for Horizon Media, expects the networks to be
negotiating harder for rights as the viewership grows, but also says
that VOD ad sales haven't been pushed as hard as they could be because
nets still want viewers to rely on traditional TV watching.
This
has created tension between broadcast and cable operators, with cable
angry that broadcast networks are giving away their product for free
when cable has to pay to acquire the same content.
