In an effort to boost its 'TV Everywhere' service,
Time Warner Cable Inc
. (
TWC
), the second-largest cable operator in the U.S., is joining hands
with Media giant
Viacom, Inc.
(
VIAB
) to view popular channels like BET, COMEDY CENTRAL, MTV,
Nickelodeon, Spike and VH1 on customers PC's, tablets and
smartphones at no extra cost.
The subscribers of Time Warner Cable can easily access the
Viacom channels by visiting the Viacom site and logging into the
site through Time Warner Cable ID.
Growing popularity of online video streaming companies like
Netflix Inc
. (
NFLX
) and Hulu Inc. have induced other pay TV operators to offer live
TV viewing options to its subscribers. This is expected to not only
help these pay TV operators to counter threat arising from the
online video streaming companies but will also offer greater
flexibility to its subscribers to watch their favorite TV shows
whenever they want.
Higher proliferation of tablets and smartphones, coupled with
rollouts of high speed internet services has further elevated the
demand for flexible TV viewing options for the subscribers. To
offer such enhanced services to its customers, Time Warner Cable is
continuously teaming up with different network giants to view their
popular TV shows online through multiple devices.
Last year, Time Warner Cable faced huge criticism from most
media companies for launching an application, which allowed
streaming of TV shows on iPad devices. It also faced lawsuits from
Viacom for launching such applications, which will violate the
program distribution rights of most media companies.
However, things are changing as more network companies are
teaming up with cable companies to provide the live streaming of TV
services to their subscribers. Therefore, the latest deal between
Time Warner Cable and Viacom seems to be a win-win situation for
both the companies in terms of customer retention as well as
audience expansion.
We maintain our long-term Neutral recommendation for Time Warner
Cable Inc. Currently, it has a Zacks#3 Rank, implying a short-term
Hold rating on the stock.
NETFLIX INC (NFLX): Free Stock Analysis Report
TIME WARNER CAB (TWC): Free Stock Analysis
Report
VIACOM INC-B (VIAB): Free Stock Analysis Report
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