Cablevision has signed a TV Everywhere deal with Turner Broadcasting that will make the latter’s programming available to subscribers across digital platforms.
Deal will deliver next-day access at no additional charge to programming from channels including TNT, TBS, Cartoon Network and TruTV via the Web or iPad, iPhone and iTouch. Also available is live-streaming of Turner-owned news nets CNN and HLN. Subs can unlock access to the shows via apps or network websites with user ID and password.
Cablevision positioned Turner TV Everywhere as a complement to its Optimum app, which makes live streams of all of its channels accessible on the iPad. Authentication differs in that its programming is on-demand and available outside the home.
This programming strategy has been hailed for increasing the value of expensive cable subscriptions and providing a defensive check against inroads made by over-the-top players like Netflix.
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But while Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes has been talking up TV Everywhere for several years, its rollout has been relatively slow across the industry. Dealmaking often gets folded into already complicated negotiations over affiliate agreements.
That said, the pace of deployments have picked up in 2011. A Credit Suisse report found the availability of authenticated services is on the rise, with the portion of pay TV subs who have access to some form of authenticated content growing to an estimated 89% by year-end, up from 61% the previous year.
The TW-owned cable stable has been more aggressive than most about deploying authenticated programming. While most rival portfolios from MTV Networks to ESPN have one or two distributors signed up, Turner TV Everywhere is already on Comcast, Dish Network, Cox, Verizon and AT&T.
Perhaps the only cable programmer with broader penetration for its authentication strategy is HBO Go, a digital extension of the premium cabler also owned by Time Warner.
Cablevision and Viacom reached an agreement last month to pave the way for its Optimum app after the companies filed suit against each other shortly after the app was released.
Prior to the Turner deal, Cablevision’s only authentication partnerships were with networks YES and Speed.
Cablevision and Viacom reached an agreement last month to pave the way for its Optimum app after the companies filed suit against each other shortly after the app was released.
Prior to the Turner deal, Cablevision’s only authentication partnerships were with networks YES and Speed.
