Laserfiche WebLink
Way to Subscribers ’ Hearts? <br />Triax Says It’s Through Their VCRs <br />f. <br />V- I •. <br />«i <br />' • ' • I • lit •• •• I <br />'y' <br />‘iJ- <br />By Kathy Clayton <br />J1 T L fast Onf Ciiblr company thinks one <br />F^of ihr best ways to a cable subsenber ’s <br />heart may be throuRh his VCR. <br />Triax Communications in January will <br />betfin marketing VCR Plus, a device devel <br />oped by a group of California en­ <br />trepreneurs to lake the mystery out of us ­ <br />ing videocassette recorders to tape televi­ <br />sion shows. <br />If the cable industry doesn ’t seize the <br />opportunity to peddle VCR Plus to its ais- <br />tomers. it will lose out on one of the best <br />new marketing avenues available, accord­ <br />ing to Pave Downey, vice president of mar <br />keting for Triax Communications. <br />VCR I’lus has been on the consumer <br />VCR Plus Seen Boosting Pay, Basic Value <br />VCR continued from page I_______ <br />market for about a year. The units sell <br />wholesale for about ^9 — they retail for <br />up to $70 — and are compatible with al­ <br />most every VCR and cable converter, ac­ <br />cording to Louise Wannier. executive vice <br />president of Gemstar Development Corp., <br />VCR Plus's parent firm. VCR Plus can be <br />programmed to automatically record up to <br />14 TV shows a week, using codes which <br />are published in program guides. It’s esti ­ <br />mated the device has been sold into about <br />10 percent of the country's 78.2 million <br />VCR homes.RCA is offering a built-in vci- <br />sion of the VCR Plus in its new VCR units. <br />And in recent months, the device has <br />enjoyed a spate of positive publicity, from <br />Bob Hope presenting one to Johnny Car- <br />son on The Tonight Show" to movie crit­ <br />ic Gene Siskel endorsing the item on <br />*SiskeI & Ebert At the Movies." <br />Up to now, the cable industry hasn ’t <br />paid much atfcrlion to the device, Downey <br />said. But in jar. lary, Triax plans to send <br />bill stuffers to each uf its 300,000 cus ­ <br />tomers touting VCR ^^.us; local avail ads <br />and door-to-door sales ct forts will follow. <br />“In my opinion. VCR Plus can revolu­ <br />tionize the way people use their TVs," <br />Downey said. <br />Denver-based Triax is in a unique po­ <br />sition to study VCR Plus first-hand, since <br />the city's Rocky Mountain News was the <br />first newspaper in the country to agree to <br />list the code numbers the device uses to <br />record programming in the paper's daily <br />programming grids. <br />Gemstar pursued the deal with the <br />News in part because the company hoped <br />to get the attention of cable companies <br />based in the nation's cable industry capital. <br />Downey said Triax will begin to offer <br />the (h'vicc to customers f»'r between $f>0 <br />and Stifi or on a Icase-b « ‘-t nhoul $ I a <br />month. <br />“We lliink there is an excellent oppor­ <br />tunity to lease the box and create a cash ­ <br />flow stream." Dowmey said. <br />He estimated that at least 20 percent <br />of the company's customers probably Nvill <br />either buy or lease a unit. <br />Having a cable operator market VCR <br />Plus to its customers makes a lot of sense <br />for many reasons, according to Downey: <br />■ Each VCR Plus needs to be pro­ <br />grammed in accordance with the local ca­ <br />ble channel lineup. “Operators can do <br />that instantly, making it easier for the cus ­ <br />tomer." he said. <br />■ Two-thirds of VCR Plus installations <br />in cable homes require “minor" installa­ <br />tion adjustments. <br />“If notliing else, it will help (cut) pay <br />churn." Downey said. "If a customer <br />looks at his cable guide and sees a movie <br />he wants to watch at 3 a.m., without the <br />VCR Plus, chances are, he’ll never see it" <br />Gemstar is courting cable operators <br />with a turnkey promotion for selling VCR <br />Plus, Wannier said. The company set up a <br />direct response program giving operators <br />two options to determine their level of <br />participation. Both options give operators <br />a $10 commission on each unit sale. <br />At the first level, operators insert VCR <br />Plus commercials in local availabilities for <br />at least four weeks on at least four cable <br />networks, including USA Network. <br />ESPN, Tlie Nashville Network, Tlie Fami­ <br />ly Channel. CNN. MTV, Lifetime and <br />Turner Network Television. <br />Gemstar will provide and staff a toll- <br />free phone number that will field cus ­ <br />tomer inquiries at no cost to the system. <br />At the second level, operators are re­ <br />quired to only insert the VCR Plus bill <br />stuffer in a full billing cycle for three <br />months d"Ting the calendar year. Wan­ <br />nier said.