Cablecos are striving to launch TV Everywhere initiatives, but the “Everywhere" part continues to be somewhat vaporware-ish. The latest: Despite high hopes for rolling out its Xfinity app for iOS and Android for streaming live and on-demand video, Comcast Corp. is being held up by its content partners, who are warning it that the MSO does not have the right to stream content to tablets under existing agreements.
In fact, several media players have sent legal warnings to the cable titan.
"It's very simple. Distribution via any sort of third-party app is not covered in our carriage deals with Comcast," one network affiliate head told the Hollywood Reporter. "We're not going to sit on our hands if they choose to ignore that fact."
The TV Everywhere concept has been buzzing around the industry for a few months; the idea of allowing pay-TV subscribers to access their broadcast content via tablets and other handhelds wherever they may be has been seen as an important barricade in the fight against video cord-cutting. With the U.S cable industry losing subscribers for two quarters in a row, anything to increase customer stickiness while leveraging new hot devices is considered a priority.
To that end, Comcast launched the Xfinity application for Android and the iPad and iPhone last fall, with a remote DVR functionality and the promise that streaming live video and VOD were "coming soon." But so far it's only premium channels like HBO, Showtime, Starz and Cinemax who have given Comcast permission to stream their content – which would require subscribers to have a separate subscription. Only one basic cable provider, Turner Broadcasting, is rumored to be signing on.
And even with a few partners at least on board, the app will be an in-home proposition to start off with, again thanks to content licensing issues.
Comcast isn’t alone in its tribulations: Satellite TV provider DISH Network also has plans to stream live TV within the home to ancillary devices, drawing the ire of content companies. Discovery Communications has even filed an FCC complaint last month that says DISH has no authorization to distribute its programming to tablets.
The at-home provision is also hamstringing IPTV rivals – Verizon Communications and AT&T Inc.’s iOS apps for TV are restricted to the home zone as well. Cablevision and Time Warner Cable also have a TV Everywhere strategy that will debut soon with at-home-only viewing – like other pay-TV operators, the depth of their content bench remains to be seen.