Fremantle boss: charge 5p for on-demand shows
March 23, 2009
Tony Cohen, the chief executive of FremantleMedia, the production company of shows such as X-Factor, has called on the UK government to consider a system of charging consumers as little as 5p to view TV shows on-demand.
Cohen, revealing details of FremantleMedia’s submission to the Digital Britain report, said there was a case to look beyond the current charging mechanisms for TV shows on-demand – which start from about 99p per show – and look “afresh” at the potential of micropayments.
It could be possible to charge from just 5p for TV catch-up TV shows – or even first run shows – as long as the payment system was extremely simple.
“We need to maximise the value of our work, we need to look again at on-demand viewing and how to get extra money from pay-per-view,” said Cohen. “Until now it has been a nice add-on confined to computers.”