Satellite TV provider DIRECTV
Digital cable TV subscribers with providers such as Comcast
DISH Network
The kicker is that you need to have a very specific set of DIRECTV services and hardware installed in order to enjoy the on-demand package. It takes a recent high-def DVR box, connected to both your telephone landline and to a broadband Internet connection. Some of the content streams over the Net in battle-tested IPTV fashion, and the machine will suck down a few movies in its spare time, to be stored in a reserved portion of your DVR for instant viewing.
For customers who meet all the requirements, it's an instant and free service upgrade that gives them one less reason to leave DIRECTV for more modern alternatives. For the company, it's a selling point that could convince a few fence-sitters that direct is the way to go, and also an argument for trading in outdated (and possibly TiVo-powered
The service is still in beta status, and the sales staff isn't pushing it too hard. I see this as "keeping up with the Joneses" (and Seidenbergs, and Parsons) rather than true innovation. Don't buy DIRECTV just because they got VOD. On the other hand, you now have one fewer reason to sell, or not to buy at all.
Further Foolishness: