The Video On Demand Wars -- Coming To A Digital Screen In Your Home

Now that premium entertainment is becoming easier to stream from the web to directly to your television, the race by Digital Rainmakers on how to make money on the growing consumer demand is becoming fierce. The Rainmaker playing field includes -- Google, Apple, Amazon, Hulu, NBC Universal, News Corp., Disney, Sony, Viacom and Time Warner. Unfortunately for these brand giants, one brand has already beaten them to the punch.

Fresh off its knockout of Blockbuster, Netflix, which originally built its business on DVD rentals by mail, diversified to accommodate consumer's desire for immediate and unlimited access to video entertainment  over the Internet offering, Watch Instantly. In just two years, Netflix has grown its subscriber base by 78% and the percentage of Netflix subscribers who stream video is growing dramatically. Today, more than 61% of subscribers use Netflix' Watch Instantly for at least 15 minutes, compared to 37% just one year ago.Netflix has been smart about partnering with makers of  TVs, set-top boxes, video game consoles, Blu-ray players, tablets and smartphones, including competitor Apple TV. And while Netflix is investing heavily in stocking its movie library, management is being very aggressive in pursuing licensing deals for back seasons of popular TV shows. That means Netflix could soon oust Hulu in the past season TV program content category.

Of course, this video on demand race is critical to digital marketers who want custom brand presence on the direct marketing platform consumers choose to select, stream their favorite movies, TV and entertainment programs right to their computer monitors or digital screens. Sure, it's programming content on demand, but do you really think it will be commercial free ?