The Time Warner Cable TV App For Xbox 360 Is Now Available, With Access To 300 Channels
The TWC TV app for Xbox Live, which was announced back in June, is now available for download from the Xbox Live Marketplace. Microsoft's partnership with Time Warner Cable is a significant part …
Context & Ripple Effects
This is the third act of a slow build: Time Warner Cable ran an online video test as far back as 2009, then won channel rights for out-of-home viewing when Viacom gave up its fight over the TWC iPad app in May 2012. Microsoft, meanwhile, had already turned Xbox Live into an authenticated TV destination by landing Comcast XFINITY TV and HBO GO on the platform in March 2012.
The June-announced TWC TV app going live on Xbox 360 with 300 channels is the first time TWC has brought its full live lineup to a console, and syndication was broad — Engadget, VentureBeat, GigaOM and others picked it up within a day. The notable detail in the pickup: GigaOM reports streams via the app do not count against TWC data caps.
First-order effects
- Xbox 360 owners subscribed to Time Warner Cable can now stream 300 live channels through Xbox Live, turning the console into a de facto second set-top box at no extra hardware cost.
- Microsoft gets a flagship cable partner on Xbox Live weeks before the Xbox One launches, strengthening its pitch that the console is a living-room entertainment hub rather than just a games machine.
Second-order effects
- Other cable operators face pressure to match Comcast and Time Warner Cable on Xbox Live or cede console-based TV viewing to rivals, making carrier-by-carrier app deals the new battleground for living-room distribution.
- The data-cap exemption reported by GigaOM gives TWC's own traffic an advantage over competing streaming services counted against caps, tilting usage economics toward the incumbent bundle.
Third-order effects
- If every major pay-TV provider ends up authenticated on consoles and streaming devices, the operator-supplied set-top box loses its gatekeeper role and carriage negotiations increasingly price in multi-device rights — the dynamic Viacom already conceded on mobile in 2012.
- For Microsoft, each cable partnership compounds the strategic value of owning a screen in the living room independent of any single content owner, positioning Xbox Live as distribution infrastructure rather than a gaming service.
The trend: Pay-TV providers are extending authenticated 'TV everywhere' apps onto game consoles, with Microsoft's Xbox Live assembling carrier by carrier into a rival to the traditional set-top box.