Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Latest Cable Battle: Beaming Straight to iPad

Time Warner draws networks' ire with live-TV app

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted Mar 25, 2011 1:15 PM CDT

(Newser) – A feud has erupted between Time Warner and cable networks after the cable provider released an iPad app for 32 live TV channels. Time Warner, which didn’t get permission from the networks, says it is “well within our rights” to transmit to any home device, provided it does so through its own “secure network” and not the “open Internet." Several networks fervently disagree, with one calling the move a “land grab,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

Some agreements between networks and cable providers address “cable television” and not other devices, network executives say. But a Time Warner exec disagreed: “We don't define in our contracts what a viewing device is, because technology has always been evolving,” she said. “I don't know what a TV is anymore.” The battle is part of a larger war over how to provide content in the digital age. Time Warner aims to stay at the forefront as viewing habits change—and it plans to put all its channels on the iPad.

In this product image provided by Time Warner Cable, its cable app is displayed on an iPad. (AP Photo/Time Warner Cable Inc.)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

CLICK BELOW TO VOTE

58%

30%

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

Subscribers Will Pay for Fox/Time Warner Deal

Channels up and down the dial are asking for more money

(NEWSER) - It’s no coincidence that on the day Time Warner and News Corp. resolved their long, ugly contract negotiations, the cable provider also announced a rate increase. Get used to it, says the New York Times, because soon all the broadcast networks will be lobbying for more dough, as will a host of channels further up the dial. More»

Get Ready for $200 Cable Bills

Industry to hit that mark by 2020, and that doesn't count Internet, phone service

(NEWSER) - Unless something changes, cable TV prices are headed for the stratosphere, according to an industry forecast released yesterday. At the rate cable prices have been increasing—about 6% per year—analysts see them hitting $200 a month by 2020, which, the New York Post quips, might be enough to displace $5 gas as "America's new household budget buster." That $200 doesn't include Internet or phone either, it's just the price of paid TV. More»

Fox Stations Will Stay on Time Warner Cable

News Corp. makes a deal well past original deadline

(NEWSER) - Time Warner Cable and News Corp. made a deal tonight that will keep the Fox networks on the cable giant's systems. The agreement came nearly a day after the original midnight deadline and minutes before the kickoff of the Sugar Bowl. Terms were not disclosed, but News Corp. had been demanding $1 per subscriber while Time Warner was offering around 35¢, Broadcasting & Cable reports. More»

Please, Apple, 'Blow Up' the Cable Companies

Steve Jobs and crew are getting closer to an online subscription service

(NEWSER) - Apple is getting closer to launching an online television subscription service, and MG Siegler relishes the challenge it could pose to cable companies. “Just as Apple transformed the music industry thanks to the iTunes/iPod combination, and the mobile industry thanks to the iPhone, a device that offered all the television content over the Internet could force the cable companies to stop sucking,” he writes at TechCrunch . More»

Time Warner, Viacom Reach Zero-Hour Deal

Cable provider keeps grip on Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV

(NEWSER) - The countdown to the New Year was a frantic one for Viacom and Time Warner. The companies had set a midnight deadline in their tense negotiations to keep Viacom’s networks—which include MTV, Comedy Central, and Nickelodeon—on the massive cable provider. As the ball dropped, Viacom granted a 1-hour extension, and the sides reached a deal soon afterward, according to the Hollywood Reporter. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Latest Cable Battle: Beaming Straight to iPad

Time Warner draws networks' ire with live-TV app

OTHER STORIES ON OUR RADAR

Time Warner • cable TV • Apple • cable operators • cable industry • Time Warner Cable • iPad

MOST POPULAR STORIES

[ By Views ]

[ By Comments ]

More Newser Stories

Subscribers Will Pay for Fox/Time Warner Deal

Channels up and down the dial are asking for more money

Get Ready for $200 Cable Bills

Industry to hit that mark by 2020, and that doesn't count Internet, phone service

Fox Stations Will Stay on Time Warner Cable

News Corp. makes a deal well past original deadline

Please, Apple, 'Blow Up' the Cable Companies

Steve Jobs and crew are getting closer to an online subscription service

Time Warner, Viacom Reach Zero-Hour Deal

Cable provider keeps grip on Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV

About Us

Site

Community

Site Maps

Tools

More News

What is Newser?