Virgin Media launches new video-on-demand service

Virgin Media, which recently announced it had hit the 1-million customer mark, has launched Virgin Media Online Movies, a U.K.-only VOD service that doesn't require users to be subscribers to get the 48-hour rentals.

The Silverlight video streaming service will be powered by FilmFlex; standard-def new releases will cost about $6. VM says the plan eventually will lead to the downloading of films and an HD tier. Typically, users will be able to rent the video for 30 days, although once they begin playback, they'll have 48 hours to watch it. VM says rentals can be watched on any screen the user logs in from. Virgin already operates a VOD service for its cable TV clients, which also is powered by FilmFlex.

For more:
- see this Reg Hardware article