Comcast and Time Warner Join for ‘TV Everywhere’
Posted by Jesse Ward on Monday, June 29, 2009 · 
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Comcast Corp. announced that it has joined forces with Time Warner Inc. to push the “‘TV Everywhere” model forward. The concept is aimed at organizing the industry around a single plan that would ask pay-TV subscribers to authenticate or identify themselves as paying customers before gaining access to online TV content.
The companies have agreed to the following principles:
- Bring more TV content, more easily to more people across platforms.
- Video subscribers can watch programming from their favorite TV networks online for no additional charge.
- Video subscribers can access this content using any broadband connection.
- Programmers should make their best and highest-rated programming available online.
- Both networks and video distributors should provide high-quality, consumer-friendly sites for viewing broadband content with easy authentication.
- A new process should be created to measure ratings for online viewing. The goal should be to extend the current viewer measurement system to include advertiser ratings for TV content viewed on all platforms.
- TV Everywhere is open and non-exclusive; cable, satellite or telco video distributors can enter into similar agreements with other programmers.
The agreement between the companies will make it possible for Comcast customers to access programming from Turner Broadcasting’s award-winning entertainment networks free online and on demand.
In addition, Comcast announced it will begin a national technical trial of its “On Demand Online” service in July with programming from Time Warner’s Turner networks TNT and TBS. Approximately 5,000 Comcast customers will have secure access to the premium long-form content. The companies plan to expand content, features and functionality in later phases of the trial.
In the coming weeks Comcast expects other programming networks to participate as the nationwide trial expands. Time Warner expects to announce similar trials with other distributors.
Read the New York Times story.
View Comcast’s press release.
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