Andre Yoskowitz
21 Feb 2009 15:54
According to a WSJ report, Comcast and Time Warner are considering giving paying cable subscribers access to cable programming online, at no added cost.
Negotiations with content holders have been ongoing for months, and the report specifically notes Viacom and NBC Universal as being interested parties. Those companies own many of the most popular cable networks including TNT, USA and the MTV family.
The new Web services, which could launch as soon as the Q3 2009, should help attract new subscribers, says the cable companies although it will have to compete with free ad-supported sites such as Hulu and TV.com.
Sources familiar to the situation added that the "proposed Web services would likely be in a streaming format with ads, accessible in and out of the home, and without any additional charge to cable-TV subscribers."
Brian Roberts, the chief executive of Comcast added, "online video is our friend, not our enemy."