PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Comcast, one of the nation’s leading providers of entertainment, information and communications products and services, today announced that its customers have watched 20 billion entertainment choices On Demand since the service launched in 2003 – an industry first in television (TV). Comcast celebrates this milestone with the launch of the Xfinity On Demand Awards, honoring the top-performing movies, TV series, musical artists and other programming as determined by what customers watched the most on the service.
“On Demand was the first technology to give millions of our customers instant access to entertainment choices to watch on their schedule,” said Marcien Jenckes, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Video Services, Comcast. “By making a huge library of content available for free with a click of the remote, On Demand was an instant hit and continues to drive viewership. The service has been a major influence in the adoption of time-shifted viewing, which has now become mainstream.”
ON DEMAND: THEN AND NOW
Comcast launched On Demand to half of its customer base eight years ago with 740 movies, music videos and cartoons from a handful of content providers. Available today to 20 million customers, On Demand usage continues to explode with approximately 350 million programs viewed each month. Over the years, both the number of entertainment views and choices on the service have increased dramatically:
Entertainment Views (Overall)
- 2003: 200 million entertainment views
- 2005: 1 billion entertainment views
- 2007: 5 billion entertainment views
- 2009: 14 billion entertainment views
- 2011: 20 billion entertainment views (to date)
Entertainment Choices
- 2003: <1,000 entertainment choices
- 2005: 3,500 entertainment choices
- 2007: 13,000 entertainment choices
- 2009: 17,000 entertainment choices
- 2011: 25,000 entertainment choices
Comcast is creating new personalization tools including a “Watchlist” where customers can save and track their favorite shows and movies across platforms and watch thousands of them online at XfinityTV.com and through the Xfinity TV app on the iPad®, iPhone® and iPod touch®, anytime, anywhere. Customers can also use these devices and Android™-powered devices as a remote control to find what to watch, change the channel in real time, start On Demand titles on the TV, program DVRs to record TV shows and movies and sort content based on different filters, keywords or titles.
XFINITY ON DEMAND AWARDS
With 20 billion views to date, Xfinity On Demand provides a pulse on what consumers are watching. The following are the all-time, most-viewed new release movies, TV series, musical artists and other programming on the service, and recipients of the Xfinity On Demand Awards:
Overall Most-Viewed New Release Movies:
1. The Hangover (Warner Bros.)
2. The Blind Side*
(Warner Bros.)
3. Couples Retreat* (Universal)
Please
see addendum for most-viewed new release movies by genre: action,
comedy, drama, horror, indie and kids.
Overall Most-Viewed TV Series:
1. South Park (Comedy Central)
2. Entourage (HBO)
3.
Sex and the City (HBO)
Please see addendum for most-viewed TV
series by genre: comedy, drama, reality and kids as well as sports and
special 3D programming.
Overall Most-Viewed Musical Artists:
1. Beyoncé
2. Chris Brown
3. Ciara
Please see addendum
for most-viewed musical artists by genre: country, hip hop, pop, R&B and
rock.
Comcast Xfinity TV customers can watch many of these films and artists this month on Xfinity On Demand under the Top Picks 20 Billion folder. Customers can also watch more than 60,000 TV and movie entertainment choices across Xfinity On Demand, online at XfinityTV.com and on the iPad, iPod touch and iPhone through the Xfinity TV app.
Additionally, in late June, Comcast will kick-off a sweepstakes to celebrate 20 billion Xfinity On Demand views. Entrants can sign-up for the sweepstakes online to enter for a chance to win a grand prize package which includes a walk-on role on NBC’s 30 Rock plus a Universal Orlando Resort vacation and tickets to a Universal Pictures Premiere and after-party. Other prizes include 50” HDTVs, plus weekly prizes. The sweepstakes ends on July 31, 2011.
About Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) (www.comcast.com) is one of the nation's leading providers of entertainment, information and communications products and services. Comcast is principally involved in the operation of cable systems through Comcast Cable and in the development, production and distribution of entertainment, news, sports and other content for global audiences through NBCUniversal. Comcast Cable is one of the nation's largest video, high-speed Internet and phone providers to residential and business customers. Comcast is the majority owner and manager of NBCUniversal, which owns and operates entertainment and news cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, local television station groups, television production operations, a major motion picture company and theme parks.
Photos and video of Todd Phillips, director of The Hangover, and cast members, Ken Jeong and Justin Bartha, accepting the Xfinity On Demand Award for Most-Viewed New Release Movie are available upon request.
ADDENDUM:
Xfinity On
Demand Award Winners
Most-Viewed New Release Movies:
Overall Movie:
1. The Hangover (Warner Bros.)
2. The Blind Side*
(Warner Bros.)
3. Couples Retreat* (Universal)
Action Movie:
1. Taken (20th Century Fox)
2. The Book of Eli*
(Warner Bros.)
3. Avatar (20th Century Fox)
Comedy Movie:
1. The Hangover (Warner Bros.)
2. Couples Retreat*
(Universal)
3. He’s Just Not That Into You* (Warner
Bros./New Line Cinema)
Drama Movie:
1. The Blind Side* (Warner Bros.)
2. Gran Torino*
(Warner Bros.)
3. Twilight* (Summit Entertainment)
Horror Movie:
1. 1408 (Warner Bros.)
2. The Last House on the Left*
(Universal)
3. The Wolfman* (Universal)
Indie Movie:
1. All Good Things** (Magnolia)
2. The Killer Inside Me**
(IFC)
3. Centurion** (Magnolia)
Kids/Family Movie:
1. Alvin and the Chipmunks (20th Century Fox)
2. Night
at the Museum (20th Century Fox)
3. Alvin and the
Chipmunks: The Squeakquel (20th Century Fox)
Most-Viewed Musical Artists:
Overall Musical Artist:
1. Beyoncé
2. Chris Brown
3. Ciara
Country Musical Artist:
1. Taylor Swift
2. Carrie Underwood
3. Rascal Flatts
Hip Hop Musical Artist:
1. Lil Wayne
2. T.I.
3. Bow Wow
Pop Musical Artist:
1. Michael Jackson
2. Justin Bieber
3. Britney Spears
R&B Musical Artist:
1. Beyoncé
2. Chris Brown
3. Ciara
Rock Musical Artist:
1. Green Day
2. Aventura
3. Nickelback
Most-Viewed TV Series:
Overall TV Series:
1. South Park (Comedy Central)
2. Entourage (HBO)
3.
Sex and the City (HBO)
Comedy TV Series:
1. South Park (Comedy Central)
2. Entourage (HBO)
3.
Sex and the City (HBO)
Drama TV Series:
1. The Sopranos (HBO)
2. NCIS (CBS)
3. CSI (CBS)
Reality TV Series:
1. Intervention (A&E)
2. Survivor (CBS)
3. Real
World (MTV)
Overall Kids Series:
1. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
2. Tom and Jerry
(Cartoon Network)
3. Caillou (Sprout)
Animated Kids Series:
Age: < 7
1. SpongeBob SquarePants (Nickelodeon)
2. Tom and Jerry
(Cartoon Network)
3. Caillou (Sprout)
Age: 7+
1. Ben 10 (Cartoon Network)
2. Naruto (Cartoon
Network)
3. Dragon Ball Z (Cartoon Network)
Live-Action Kids Series:
Age: < 7
1. Barney and Friends (Sprout)
2. Sesame Street
(Sprout)
3. Teletubbies (Sprout)
Age: 7+
1. iCarly (Nickelodeon)
2. Hannah Montana (Disney
Channel)
3. Drake & Josh (Nickelodeon)
Overall Sports Programming:
1. NFL Game Highlights (NFL)
2. Greatest Hits (HBO)
3.
World Championship Boxing (HBO)
Overall 3D Programming:
1. Yule Log 3D (iND)
NOTE: Xfinity On Demand Awards were awarded to studios with video-on-demand movie rights.
*Indicates the film was available on Xfinity On Demand the same day as the DVD release.
**Indicates the film was available on Xfinity On Demand the same day as the theatrical release.
Photos/Multimedia Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=6737428&lang=en