Viacom Gives Up Fight Against Time Warner Cable, Adds Channels to TWC iPad App
Customers of Time Warner Cable have some reason to rejoice today, as the cable company has gotten the go-ahead to add channels like MTV, VH1, and Comedy Central to its live streaming iPad app.
Context & Ripple Effects
The dispute dates to spring 2011, when Cablevision launched an iPad app streaming hundreds of channels and Time Warner Cable quickly followed suit, prompting Viacom to object that its networks were being streamed outside existing carriage terms — the opening shot of the new cable fight over where a paid subscription entitles viewing. TWC escalated by filing a request for declaratory judgment, then both sides stood down in a truce by June 2011 while talks continued.
First-order effects
- Time Warner Cable subscribers get MTV, VH1, Comedy Central and Viacom's other networks added to the live-streaming iPad app immediately, closing the gap with Cablevision's year-old Optimum for iPad offering.
- Viacom abandons its legal challenge rather than pressing for per-device streaming fees or blocking the app outright — conceding that authenticated in-home iPad streams ride on existing subscriptions.
Second-order effects
- Other programmers still absent from TWC's app face the same dilemma Viacom just lost: hold out for new mobile-licensing money and risk looking obstructive, or fold into the authentication model their rivals' content already occupies.
- Cable operators gain a negotiating template — Cablevision proved the app was launchable, TWC proved a programmer backing down costs nothing legally — shifting leverage toward distributors in carriage renewals.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, 'TV everywhere' rights stop being a separately priced product and become a default expectation bundled into carriage deals, eroding programmers' ability to charge operators twice for the same subscriber across screens.
The trend: Pay-TV distribution is absorbing tablets into standard authenticated subscriptions, with programmers' attempts to price second-screen streaming as a new right collapsing under operator pressure.