PARIS -- Under its permanent drive to develop better video services, Neuf Cegetel announces a fully redesigned video-on-demand (VOD) store with improved ergonomics and a new editorial line. Neuf Cegetel already sets the standard for service quality in ADSL television, and recently developed a new technology, for rollout from May 2008, that further enhances the reliability of video-on-IP, bringing customers optimum reception quality for Neuf IP TV channels.

Neuf VOD, new VOD platform

Encouraged by market take-up of its video-on-demand service launched over a year ago (750,000 Neuf TV customers by the end of 2007), Neuf Cegetel decided to build on its successful experience and acquire direct broadcasting rights to become a publisher of its own video-on-demand service, Neuf VOD.

Neuf Cegetel signed with the main French cinema studios to offer some of the biggest box-office hits of the year (such as Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis, Les Liens du Sang, Paris, Persépolis, and Astérix aux Jeux Olympiques), along with the best in cartoons, documentaries, concerts, comedy shows and series. The partnership with Glowria, a Netgem subsidiary, has also been extended, covering titles from four major US studios (Paramount, Sony Pictures, NBC Universal, Warner Bros.). Major box-office hits, such as Spiderman 3, Ocean’s 13, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, and Transformers, will be therefore available.

Neuf VOD will offer around 3,500 programmes itself, and Neuf TV subscribers will continue to enjoy access to a total of 5,000 programmes across all three stores, including TF1 Vision and M6 Vidéo, which mainly offer content based on TF1 and M6 TV channel programmes.

Neuf Cegetel has also developed a new customer interface for its video-on-demand service and integrated its own in-house editorial line. L’Actu Neuf VOD, a news and promotion channel, is now available on channel n°19. The straightforward, intuitive, picture-rich interface gives subscribers fuller information and more features, such as Allociné spectators’ reviews, suggestions, bonuses, trailers, multilingual versions, HD and Dolby 5.1.

With this new approach, Neuf Cegetel moves on from being a simple distributor of services published by third parties to become a services publisher in its own right, with video-on-demand (acquisition, editorial content, promotion) an integral part of its business. This provides Neuf Cegetel with an optimum economic model and enables it to respond more promptly and more closely to customer expectations.

Neuf Cegetel Group (Euronext: NEUF)