Time Warner tests Internet Television

Filed in archive IPTV on July 17, 2005

It is being reported that Time Warner Cable has "quietly embarked on a trial in the San Diego area" that delivers 75 channels - all of Time Warner's expanded basic tier -- via IP to the PC.

This news was first reported in The San Diego Union-Tribune and is said to be a "six-month trial." About 9,000 customers who take the MSO's video and Road Runner data services are participating. According to the paper, the service is powered by a RealNetworks media player. Users must log in via a special Web site.

CED Broadband pointed out that this "service creates an automatic rival to non-cable affiliated companies such as Sling Media and Orb Networks." Perhaps, but I feel certain that this was not the motivating factor.

I am looking at recent actions occurring inside other Time Warner divisions. How about TBS and TNT going more into VOD. Or AOL starting up a joint venture that will deliver live and on-demand concerts and comedy shows. Or that Warner Brothers says it has already digitized most of its library of 5,000 films and will start selling some of them online later this year.

The more plausible explanation is that Time Warner is tired of its status as a slumbering giant of the "old media." It sees that Google is a media company that Wall Street gives a higher valuation! If you are Time Warner with all its assets, now is the time to start figuring out how to be a "new media" powerhouse. Some experiments may fail, but you don't get there without trying.