Verizon FiOS TV Launches Howcast Videos on its VOD Platform

Verizon FiOS TV's VOD service has begun carrying videos from Howcast, a broadband video service that offers short-form instructional/how-to videos (note: Howcast, which features over 100,000 videos in 25 categories on its Web site, operates an Emerging Filmmakers Program that sees it working with filmmakers looking to create videos for it: it pays them a basic fee of $50 per video, and, if their video generates over 40,000 views, provides them with a 50% split of any advertising revenues the video generates; it also produces videos in-house and through partnerships with other media companies).

According to Verizon, hundreds of Howcast videos are now available on-demand in HD on FiOS TV, free-of-charge. The videos include instruction on topics that are thematically appropriate for the upcoming Labor Day weekend, including how to grill meat, fish or vegetables; how to play badminton or volleyball; and how to treat sunburn. "FiOS TV has provided Howcast an amazing platform to bring our how-to videos in HD quality directly to consumers' televisions," Howcast co-founder and CEO, Jason Liebman, said in a prepared statement. "We are excited to partner with Verizon and provide FiOS TV customers with a Labor Day survival guide that provides how-to solutions tailored for their holiday entertaining needs."

In related news: Canadian broadcaster, CTV, announced a deal with Rogers Cable Tuesday that will see it making available 17 of its shows on the latter's VOD platform. The shows, which will be offered to viewers free-of-charge and without commercial interruption shortly after their linear broadcast, include "The Amazing Race," "Desperate Housewives" and "Grey's Anatomy," and "So You Think You Can Dance Canada." "This catch-up initiative is clearly focused on allowing our viewers to stay up to speed with their favorite programs," Mike Cosentino, CTV's SVP of program scheduling, said in a prepared statement. "Almost all of the programs we've targeted for the service are serialized, which are often challenging to keep up with in today's busy world."