TV Everywhere: (Almost) everyone is at least trying it
Verizon and Time Warner Cable are the latest to hop on board the "TV Everywhere" bandwagon. Comcast and Time Warner already have trials going.
The concept behind TV Everywhere, which made a splash with Time Warner and Comcast in June, is simple enough: Make your cable subscription portable to any Internet accessible device. Time Warner and Comcast have started limited trials with participation from Time Warner's TNT and TBS networks. CBS, parent of ZDNet, HBO, Cinemax and Starz are some of the other content providers participating in the trial.
And now it's time for Verizon and Time Warner cable to give it a go (Techmeme).
Details about the Verizon trial are a bit sparse. In a statement, Verizon said that FiOS TV subscribers will be able to checkout TNT and TBS programming on demand over broadband or wireless video. Since I'm a Verizon FiOS subscriber I'll be interested to see how the trial goes. Authentication between services will be the big hang up. Verizon said it will add other content providers shortly.
Time Warner Cable's attempt at TV Everywhere is much more developed. Time Warner Cable's TV Everywhere trial will include: TBS, TNT, HBO, CBS, Syfy, BBC America, AMC, WE tv, IFC, Sundance Channel, Discovery Communications and Smithsonian Channel. The first trials will reach about 5,000 Time Warner Cable subscribers, according to a statement.
Time Warner CEO Jeffrey Bewkes has championed the TV Everywhere concept for much of 2009. On a conference call announcing the Time Warner-Comcast trials, Bewkes said TV Everywhere could be more successful than YouTube and Hulu.
Other groups such as Public Knowledge and the Media Access Project have criticized TV Everywhere as an attempt to preserve the cable business model.
You bet cable providers are trying to preserve their models, but is that such a bad thing? If I'm already subscribing to cable channels I should be able to view them online. And if that's more of a convenience for me I'm all for it. If TV Everywhere flops there are always other online video outlets.
Also see: Knowledge@Wharton on TV Everywhere