- February 25th, 2009, 11:55 am
#237098
PHILADELPHIA - HBO on your PC? It could happen sooner than you think.
Wary of the growing number of consumers watching TV shows online for free — and yet reluctant to upset viewers by yanking shows from the Internet — the nation's largest cable operators are in talks with media conglomerates to take back control. They would create a platform to release cable TV shows online, but exclusively for paying subscribers.
It's a delicate dance for those involved, which include Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc., Cox Communications Inc., Cablevision Systems Corp., General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal, News Corp., Viacom Inc. and Time Warner Inc.
Cable networks considering the project include Time Warner's HBO, Viacom's MTV, Discovery Communications Inc., owners of Discovery channel, TLC, Animal Planet and others; Cablevision's Rainbow Media Holdings, the owner of AMC, IFC and Sundance; Turner Broadcasting, owner of CNN, TBS and TNT; as well as Scripps Networks, owner of Food Network and HGTV.
Potentially at stake is the business model of cable TV operators. They pay networks a per-subscriber fee each month for the right to carry channels. But the cable companies have groused that they are paying for content that programmers are giving away for free on the Web.
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090224/ ... _tv_online
Wary of the growing number of consumers watching TV shows online for free — and yet reluctant to upset viewers by yanking shows from the Internet — the nation's largest cable operators are in talks with media conglomerates to take back control. They would create a platform to release cable TV shows online, but exclusively for paying subscribers.
It's a delicate dance for those involved, which include Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc., Cox Communications Inc., Cablevision Systems Corp., General Electric Co.'s NBC Universal, News Corp., Viacom Inc. and Time Warner Inc.
Cable networks considering the project include Time Warner's HBO, Viacom's MTV, Discovery Communications Inc., owners of Discovery channel, TLC, Animal Planet and others; Cablevision's Rainbow Media Holdings, the owner of AMC, IFC and Sundance; Turner Broadcasting, owner of CNN, TBS and TNT; as well as Scripps Networks, owner of Food Network and HGTV.
Potentially at stake is the business model of cable TV operators. They pay networks a per-subscriber fee each month for the right to carry channels. But the cable companies have groused that they are paying for content that programmers are giving away for free on the Web.
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090224/ ... _tv_online
From Bill Simmons:
See " The Sneeze" time stamp - 7:45
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/st ... ons/090903
See " The Sneeze" time stamp - 7:45
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/st ... ons/090903
- By AATL
- By Purple Haize
- By Sly Fox