Re: why pay for on demand
 

ignoring the fact the OP guys first language might not be english, the fact he may have Dyslexia, or any other disability come to that, it appears the question is:

he seems to think or has been given the impression that the original website/advertising stated:
"it said at no extra cost" .

it does seem to be currently used as the latest cash cow even though its not yet fully debugged or operational, with several missing part two advertised program content 'red dwarf P2 for instance'

doing a quick search on
http://search.ntlworld.com/ntlworld/...demand+free&cr=
doesnt bring back much but i did find this:
keep in mind the date and how currently, it doesnt seem
like the advertised article (unless your in sales 8)
http://informitv.com/articles/2005/0...rvicelaunched/
"18 January 2005

VOD service launched by ntl and Telewest

The UK cable operators have begun the roll out of their long-awaited video-on-demand services in what is claimed as the first mass market launch of VOD outside the US.

Initially available to digital customers in the Glasgow area, the ntl On Demand service will be extended progressively to other regions.
The service is billed as a significant enhancement to the existing ntl digital offering. It will provide access to hundreds of hours of additional programming, including a ‘Pick of the Week’ catch-up option showing a selection of top shows from the previous seven days, advertiser-free children’s programmes, music videos and adult content.

Companies that have already agreed to provide content include the BBC and leading film distributors. Notably absent are the main commercial television networks, although ntl says additional partners will join the service as it develops.

The ntl On Demand service will offer DVD style features including pause, fast-forward and rewind. Programmes will be available for 24 hours from purchasing.

Films will be available on demand up to nine months before scheduled TV movie channels, with full-length film trailers that can be viewed before purchasing. The company says there will also be an increasing amount of free material.
“We invested over 9 billion pounds in our high speed fibre optic network so that we could provide leading access services to our customers,” said Simon Duffy, chief executive officer of ntl. “VOD is the latest example of this. ntl On Demand gives our customers a wide choice of quality viewing at a time that suits them. VOD is TV the way it’s meant to be.”

Telewest Broadband simultaneously announced a similar movies-on-demand service to a small number of customers in Bristol. It marks the first phase of the company’s plans to launch a wider choice of TV-on-demand services.

Eric Tveter, president and chief operating officer at Telewest Broadband, said: “We’re transforming TV as we know it by launching a truly on-demand movie service, with DVD functionality. We plan to ramp up our TV-on-demand services over the year with additional TV, music and niche content to appeal to all of our one million digital TV customers.”
Telewest Broadband is investing around £20 million in the development of video-on-demand and personal video recorder services in 2005. The company plans a full region by region roll-out starting in the summer.

It is widely expected that ntl and Telewest will eventually merge their cable operations, effectively completing the consolidation of the UK cable market.

The movie-on-demand service in both cases is provided by FilmFlex, formerly known as MovieCo, a joint venture company between Sony, Disney and the On Demand Group. It will offer hundreds of films, including the latest blockbusters and classics.

In November, the joint venture received regulatory clearance from the EU to begin operations in the UK and Ireland, providing the first real threat to Sky.

Andy Birchall, chairman of the ON Demand Group commented: “After three years in development, FilmFlex is the first UK movies-on-demand service to have the backing of two major Hollywood entertainment companies behind it, which combined with content from other major and independent film studios, will deliver a top quality consumer experience.”
www.ntl.com
www.telewest.co.uk

Platforms, VOD"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTL
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_On_Demand
"
All download and some streaming video on demand systems provide the user with a large subset of VCR functionality including pause, fast forward, fast rewind, slow forward, slow rewind, jump to previous/future frame etc. For streaming systems this requires more effort on the part of the server, and may also require greater network bandwidth."

perhaps Near VOD and multicasting would have been a better option, or are they going to include
more DVD style features including jump to previous/future frame, subtitles,Extra video tracks/content etc any time soon?, or is the DVD style infact more the old tech VCR feature set for NTL:tw at least!, time will tell.....

Re: why pay for on demand
 

Yes, I was aware of the OP possibly having a disability, but it wasn't just plain poor spelling but sloppy typos which hadn't been corrected and text speak, which wouldn't be written by someone who's first lanaguage isn't English, somone who is dyslexic, has a disability or has dyspraxia - believe me, I've a close friend who has so can recognise this as not being the case.

Well either way whether I worked for ntl or not or even if I owned a tv or not; on demand - whats that mean to most people? It means you can demand to watch what you want when you want. Now with that kind of flexibility I would expect some kind of cost to be associated with it automatically anyway, its the kind of 'no such thing as a free lunch' way of thinking.

I've snipped the rest of your quote as I can't seem to see where its relevant - it just points to information about vod not about the costs associated with content which is the issue here.

Re: why pay for on demand
 

yeah, sure i see your point :gpoint:

perhaps he will take some extra time next time and make it clearer what he's trying to say. :google: