Comcast Digital Store Gets Warner Movies

11 Feb, 2014 By: Erik Gruenwedel

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Oscar-nominated 'Gravity' available digitally Feb. 11, as Warner joins Fox, Universal and Lionsgate in cable's first digital content store

Comcast Feb. 11 announced it signed a distribution agreement with Warner Bros. enabling the cable operator’s Xfinity TV subscribers to purchase and access movies and TV shows on any connected device — often weeks ahead of the packaged-media release.

Cable’s first digital content store is selling Gravity, which earned 10 Academy Award nominations, including Best Actress (Sandra Bullock), Best Director and Best Picture. Other Warner titles becoming available for purchase include: 42, Argo, The Great Gatsby, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Man of Steel, Pacific Rim, Prisoners, We’re the Millers, The Conjuring, The Following, Getaway, The Hangover Part III and "Veronica Mars."

"Comcast is an excellent partner and its Xfinity TV digital storefront is a terrific outlet for Warner Bros.’ great slate of films and TV shows," Jim Wuthrich, president of the Americas, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, said in a statement. "We’re very pleased to see Comcast move into digital sales and we look forward to helping them further expand their digital store."

Launched last November with movies from Lionsgate, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment and Universal Pictures Home Entertainment, the Xfinity On Demand digital store became the first pay-television provider in the country to sell Digital HD (electronic sellthrough) content for download and streaming. The platform quickly became a go-to destination for Digital HD, including becoming the nation’s top-selling outlet for the digital edition of Despicable Me 2 through the Thanksgiving weekend, according to Universal Pictures.

Xfinity On Demand reportedly controls about 15% of the Digital HD market. Digital purchases topped $1.2 billion in revenue in 2013, according to DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group.

“Our Xfinity On Demand platform provides customers with the most current content, where and when they want it, and the incredible success of our digital store and cloud-based digital locker will only continue to grow as we expand the platform,” Michael Schreiber, SVP of content acquisition at Comcast, said in a statement.
 

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