On-demand video rental services get awards season boost

Over the last decade, transactional video on-demand (TVOD), which are services that sell or rent content on a one-time basis, have largely been challenged by the rise of subscription and advertising-based streaming services that allow users to access hundreds of titles for a monthly or yearly fee.

Case-in-point: Companies like Apple and Amazon, which still sell and rent content to users, have both invested heavily over the past year in building up their own subscription streaming platforms (SVODs).

Yes, but: TVOD's big advantage, and part of the reason it's still been able to nearly double its market size over the past few years, is that those services often are granted shorter theatrical windows than subscription or advertising-based streaming services.

• “A-la-carte platforms represent the first opportunity for consumers to watch their favorite movies once they’ve left theaters," says Cameron Douglas, VP of Home Entertainment at FandangoNOW, Fandango's streaming service.

The big picture: TVOD services like FandangoNOW usually see a bump in response to awards season.

• For example, “1917” is seeing an uptick in Fandango ticket sales after winning the top award for Best Motion Picture/Drama at the Golden Globe Awards.

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