I just ran across a great article by Tim Valenti, who many here know as the owner of Naked Sword, on the subject of VOD providers trying to lock studios into exclusive deals.

The article is at
http://www.xbiz.com/article_piece.php?cat=41&id=17874

For any of you who are considering putting your content up on VOD, in addition to agreeing with Tim's points, I'd add the following:

I know that two major VODs (including the absolute worst one we've ever dealt with) have been aggressively trying to convince studios to go exclusive... but in addition to locking the studios out of customers who don't frequent that particular VOD (whichever one it is), the studio may then be stuck with a VOD that is unresponsive and doesn't meet its commitments.

By staying nonexclusive, the studio can enjoy revenues from multiple sources, and always has the option of "switching horses" if they get poor service from one particular VOD.

Right now, we're with about 5 providers. Of those, the ones that I could recommend at this point are AEBN and Doggone Media. AEBN has more traffic than God, and is a "must" for anyone. Doggone Media is much smaller, but they are very aggressively growing and their service is extraordinary. We've just gotten up with GayHotMovies, and we'll know in a few weeks how they are doing.

Just thought I'd toss this out there in case anyone is considering a VOD provider.

Just thought I'd toss that