Friday, March 25, 2011

Cable Channels Panic Over iPad Streaming App

From Slashdot:
"Time Warner Cable this month released an iPad app that would allow its subscribers to stream (some of) the channels they already pay for to their iPad, so long as they're connected to home Internet service provided by Time Warner Cable. The app probably seems like a baby step to most Slashdotters, and was extremely popular among subscribers — but it's thrown the owners of those channels into a panic, and they're threatening lawsuits. Time Warner says the contracts they've signed with the channels allow broadcast to any device in the home — 'I don't know what a TV is anymore,' says one company exec — but the channel owners fear that this will disrupt current and future revenue streams and that they need to stop it now. 'If we allow this without litigation, everyone will do it tomorrow,' says an anonymous source. 'If we litigate, we have a chance to win.'"

1 comment:

Michael S. said...

That is the difference, I suppose. When a major pay-TV provider tries to put out a value-add service like this for free then the content providers are going to go nuts. That's why I love my Sling Adapter and being a customer/employee with DISH Network. It's just me enjoying the same content I pay for - and DISH only supplies it to my receiver. I supply it to my phone/iPad/laptop (whichever I'm using) on the go. Plus, why would I want to be limited to watching only a few select channels when I have my entire programming package at my disposal?