cable offers videoondemand cable firms ntl and telewest have both launched videoondemand services as the battle between satellite and cable tv heats up movies from sony pictures walt disney touchstone miramax columbia and buena vista will be among those on offer the service is similar to sky plus as users can pause fast forward and rewind content but they cannot store programmes on their set top box yet it could sound the death knell for some tv channels telewest predicts it allows us to demonstrate a clear competitive advantage over sky for the first time in many years said telewest chief executive eric tveter videoondemand will offer a deeper range of content than currently exists on tv there will be less compromising around the tv schedule and some of the less popular channels may go by the wayside said philip snalune director of products at telewest telewest customers in bristol and ntl viewers in glasgow will be the first to test the new service which sees a raft of movies on offer for 24 hour rental during the year the service will be extended to all cable regions films will range in price from 1 or 2 for archived movies to 350 for current releases new releases initially on offer will include 50 first dates kill bill volume 2 gothika and the station agent in addition ntl is offering children s programmes adult content music video and concerts telewest will launch similar services later in the year ntl is also offering viewers the chance to catch up with programmes they have missed its pick of the week service will offer a selection of bbc programmes from the previous seven days such as eastenders casualty top gear and antiques roadshow the bbc is trialling a similar service offering broadband users the chance to watch programmes already broadcast on their pc for telewest it is the beginning of a 20m investment in tvondemand which will also see the launch of a personal video recorder pvr pvr has been a big success for sky because it gives customers control over programmes satellite customers without pvr cannot pause rewind or fast forward their programmes with both services on offer from telewest mr tveter is confident the cable firm can dent not just the viewing figures for terrestrial tv but also gain a huge competitive advantage over sky we offer the best of both worlds and most households have an interest in having both videoondemand and pvr he said video rental stores may also have to watch their back videoondemand is better than having a videostore in your living room and is more convenient he said ntl said it had not ruled out the possibility of offering a pvr but for the moment is concentrating on videoondemand pvr is a recording mechanism whereas what we are offering is truly on demand said a spokesman for the company videoondemand has the added advantage of not requiring a separate settop box or extra remote controls he