Comcast's Burke opens window on day-and-date (REU, VAR)

By Nancy Vialatte

The US� biggest cable operator, Comcast Corp., is aiming to open a new window in the day-and-date arena. The company said Monday that it has had talks with the major studios about showing movies on cable on the same day as they open in theaters and that the studios are �very interested.�

Comcast Chief Operating Officer Stephen Burke told attendees at the NCTA annual cable show in Las Vegas that subscribers could be charged $30 to $50 to watch an opening-day movie at home, narrowing the "window" between big screen and small screen debuts to nothing.

Theater owners have staunchly resisted any effort to cut the time between theatrical and DVD releases for fear that attendance would drop, while movie companies which get most of their profit from DVDs want a narrower window that would bring earnings forward and reduce the need for a second advertising campaign when a film is ready for home viewing. (REU)

"Everybody's looking at new windows," said Burke. "We've talked to the studios about this and they're all interested."

Comcast, which has an extensive offering of on-demand pics, has been experimenting with airing movies day-and-date with the DVD window in some markets, pacting with Warners, Paramount, Disney, Fox and Universal. But it has never made a push into airing movies simultaneous with their theatrical debuts. (VAR)

"I'm sure some movie theaters won't like the added competition," said Burke. "But at the end of the day, it's about giving consumers what they want. Anybody who doesn't do that is going to get left behind."

Although Burke allowed that persuading the studios to change their model would be difficult, he noted that even a few years ago the idea of primetime content available on-demand would have been anathema.

Revenue splits could also be an issue as studios would likely want a large percentage of viewer fees to make up for jeopardizing theatrical releases. But, it's unclear how flexible cable operators would be on this score, notes Variety.

Still, that Comcast is saying it will pursue the theatrical window threatens to open up a new front in the windows battle. (VAR)