Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films without a traditional video playback device and a typical static broadcasting schedule. In the 20th century, broadcasting in the form of over-the-air programming was the most common form of media distribution. As Internet and IPTV technologies continued to develop in the 1990s, consumers began to gravitate towards non-traditional modes of content consumption, which culminated in the arrival of VOD on televisions and personal computers.
Pay television, also known as subscription television, premium television or, when referring to an individual service, a premium channel, refers to subscription-based television services, usually provided by multichannel television providers, but also increasingly via digital terrestrial and streaming television. In the United States, subscription television began in the late 1970s and early 1980s in the form of encrypted analog over-the-air broadcast television which could be decrypted with special equipment. The concept rapidly expanded through the multi-channel transition and into the post-network era. Other parts of the world beyond the United States, such as France and Latin America have also offered encrypted analog terrestrial signals available for subscription.
Top Up TV was a pay TV service in the United Kingdom that was launched in March 2004, operating on the digital terrestrial television platform. The service aimed to "top up" Freeview customers by providing additional content and services through encrypted TV channels unavailable to other viewers.
Movie Central was a Canadian English language Category A premium cable and satellite television channel that was owned by Corus Entertainment. Movie Central was designated to operate west of the Ontario-Manitoba border, including the territories. Although the channel's name implies that it focuses solely on theatrically released motion pictures, Movie Central's programming included original and foreign television series, made-for-cable movies and documentaries.
RSS-TV is an XML-based navigation protocol for Internet media services based on the RSS standard.
Virgin TV is a digital pay cable television service in the United Kingdom, owned by Liberty Global (50%) and Telefónica (50%) after the merger its UK businesses to form Virgin Media O2. Its origins date from NTL and Telewest, formerly two of the UK's largest cable operators, which merged on 6 March 2006. All NTL:Telewest services were rebranded as Virgin Media in February 2007. Since the acquisition of Smallworld Cable in 2014, Virgin is the sole national cable TV provider in Great Britain. Currently about 51% of UK households have access to Virgin's network, which is independent from BT's Openreach network.
Mei Ah Entertainment Group Co., Ltd. is a major media distribution company in Hong Kong.
Starz is a Canadian English language premium television network owned by Bell Media.
Catchplay is a Taiwanese multimedia company founded in 2007, whose businesses include OTT VOD streaming service operation, linear television channel operation, and theatrical film distribution. It operates as the Taiwanese branch of CatchPlay, Inc., a company registered in Cayman Islands.
Fetch TV is an Australian IPTV provider that offers a subscription television service over a user's regular internet connection. It is majority owned by Telstra, who acquired a 51.4% stake in the company on the 2nd of August 2022. Fetch TV was initially launched in July 2010 by Malaysian Astro Malaysia Holdings.
BBC First is an entertainment subscription television channel featuring comedy, crime, drama and film programming, originating from UK and mostly from the BBC. The channel is wholly owned and operated by BBC Studios. The channel began rolling out internationally in 2014, launching first in Australia. It is supported by extended localised advertising breaks.
Shomi was a Canadian subscription video on demand service jointly owned by Rogers Communications and Shaw Communications, in operation from 2014 to 2016. The service was viewed as a Canadian-based competitor to Netflix, with a library of 1,200 films and 11,000 hours' worth of television programs available on launch. Shomi content could be accessed as an over-the-top service through the service's website and apps, or through the video-on-demand libraries of participating television providers. The service emphasized manually curated categories of content, in contrast to the algorithmic approach used by competing services.
Crave is a Canadian subscription video on demand service owned by Bell Media. The service competes directly with other subscription-based over-the-top streaming services operating in Canada, primarily against American-based services.
Sky On Demand was a video on demand service exclusively available to Sky subscribers in the Philippines. It was owned and operated by Sky Cable Corporation, a subsidiary of ABS-CBN. It allowed users who were subscribed to either Sky Cable, Sky Broadband, Sky Direct Postpaid or Sky Fiber to watched on demand contents from many pan-regional television channels such as ABS-CBN, AXN, Basketball TV, History Channel, Warner TV, Disney Channel, S+A as well as a wide array of foreign and local TV shows and movies from Star Cinema, Paramount Pictures, NBCUniversal, Regal Films, and Viva Films.
Pluto TV is a free ad-supported streaming television (FAST) service owned and operated by the Paramount Streaming division of Paramount Global.
BritBox is an online digital video subscription service, founded by BBC Studios and ITV, operating in nine countries across North America, Europe, Australia and South Africa. It is focused on British television series and films, mainly featuring current and past series and films supplied from two British terrestrial broadcasters of the BBC and ITV, in addition to original programming. BritBox is said to feature the biggest collection of British box sets available in one place, with additional original programming available from 2020.
Peacock is an American over-the-top video streaming service owned and operated by Peacock TV LLC, a subsidiary of NBCUniversal Media Group. Named after the NBC logo, the service launched on July 15, 2020. The service primarily features series and film content from NBCUniversal studios and other third-party content providers, including television series, films, news, and sports programming. The service is available in a grandfathered free ad-supported version with limited content, while premium tiers include a larger content library and access to additional NBC Sports, Hallmark Channel, and WWE content.
Binge is a video streaming subscription service available in Australia, owned by Streamotion. The service offers on demand and live entertainment, lifestyle, reality and movie programming.
Shahid is an Arabic content streaming platform operated by the Saudi state-owned MBC Group.
The Roku Channel is an over-the-top video on demand service owned and operated by Roku, Inc. Launched in September 2017, the service is offered in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Mexico. The Roku Channel leads the U.S. free ad-supported streaming television sector, and reports 120 million viewers as of 2023.
