video-on-demand (VOD), technology for delivering video content, such as movies and television shows, directly to individual customers for immediate viewing.
In a cable television VOD system, video content is stored on a centralized server in the form of compressed digital files. A customer navigates a programming menu via the cable set-top box and makes a selection, available either at no cost or for a charge. The server immediately begins streaming the program. The viewer may pause, fast-forward, rewind, or stop and later resume the program. Sometimes the program will be available for viewing only for a short set time period. VOD systems may also use a download-based model, in which the program is stored on a hard disk in the set-top box, or they may transmit over the Internet to a personal computer. Satellite television services, which broadcast the same signal over an entire service area, cannot accommodate true VOD, though they often offer Internet VOD.
Cable providers experimented with VOD in the 1990s, but the services failed to achieve much success until the next decade, when equipment and bandwidth became less expensive and content providers began allowing more programming to be offered by VOD. By the middle of the decade, VOD had largely supplanted schedule-driven pay-per-view service on cable systems, and by 2010 most television networks were offering many of their programs on VOD.
In the same time frame, Internet-based VOD grew more pervasive in the video-rental market, allowing customers immediate access to an expansive library of programming at the click of a button. New development efforts focused on bridging the gap between Internet and television sets, allowing online rental services to compete with cable providers in bringing content to customers’ television screens. Subscription services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime allowed users to stream video for a monthly fee. The video site YouTube also hosted many videos that could be streamed on demand. In the early 21st century more than 70 percent of Internet traffic was streaming video. The many options available for Internet VOD have even led some viewers to “cut the cord”—that is, to reject cable television in favour of Internet streaming.