Verizon is unwrapping high-definition video-on-demand in many of its FiOS TV markets. HD VOD is now available over the FiOS TV systems in Richmond and Virginia Beach, Va.; Tampa, Fla.; Fort Wayne, Ind.; and Pittsburgh. It is coming soon to the FiOS systems in the Washington, D.C., metro area, Massachusetts and Rhode Island; and to Verizon's remaining FiOS TV markets next year.

Verizon last month said it expects to have more than 150 HD channels by the end of 2008 as it continues to add to its HD lineup, and programmers launch new channels. It also said that it would increase its HD VOD titles to more than 1,000 in 2008.

Verizon's initial HD VOD offering contains around 75 HD titles including a mix of free programs and recently released blockbuster movies such as "Transformers;" "The Hoax," starring Richard Gere; "Mr. Brooks," with Kevin Costner and Demi Moore; and the animated "Surf's Up." Free HD titles run the gamut from MTV music videos to shows from Wealth TV and Golfweek Magazine. Also on Verizon HD VOD, horror fans can sample the short-form mini-series "30 Days of Night: Blood Trails" from FEARnet, a horror and thriller Web site and video-on-demand service, and produced by Ghost House Pictures. In the coming months, the company will continue to add HD titles to its VOD library, which now totals more than 10,000 titles.

Customers access video-on-demand simply by pressing the "VOD" or "On Demand" button on their remote control, through a menu on FiOS TV's interactive media guide, or by tuning into channel 900. Customers need an HDTV and an HD set-top box to view the on-demand titles in high definition.