--Trial Is Part of "TV Everywhere" Initiative, Announced by Comcast and Time Warner in June
Comcast, the US's largest cable MSO, announced Thursday that Discovery Channel has joined its On Demand Online trial and is now making a selection of its full-length programming available online to trial participants. On Demand Online, which was launched last month, was announced in June as part of an agreement between Comcast and Time Warner to develop "broad principles" for the so-called "TV Everywhere" distribution model (note: the "TV Everywhere" model, which has long been championed by Time Warner and its chairman and CEO, Jeff Bewkes, seeks to make programming that pay-TV customers have already paid for through their cable, satellite or IPTV subscriptions available to those customers on multiple platforms, and thus aims to head off the threat posed to pay-TV services by the increasing availability of over-the-top programming--for more background, see the articles published on itvt.com, April 30th, May 14th and June 25th).
Discovery content that will be available to On Demand Online trial participants as a result of the programmer's deal with Comcast includes episodes of "Man vs. Wild" and "Swords," the day after they air on linear TV; "Verminators" episodes which will be available one week after their broadcast; and past episodes of "Stormchasers." "Building on our longstanding relationship with Comcast, we are pleased to participate in the On Demand Online trial to create an online viewing solution that appeals to growing consumer demand for convenient access to their favorite programs while continuing to drive value for distributors, programmers and advertisers alike," Bill Goodwyn, Discovery Communications' president of domestic distribution and enterprises, said in a prepared statement. "We are excited to give fans of our shows more options to see our high-quality programming and this trial represents an important next step in those efforts. We are also committed to working with Comcast and across the industry to develop a consistent online model for consumers and a meaningful way to measure viewing across platforms." Added Matt Bond, Comcast's EVP of content acquisition: "We are pleased to partner with Discovery Communications to bring their content online to consumers and to further expand our On Demand Online offering. The initial response we have received from customers participating in the On Demand Online trial has been overwhelmingly positive, and with the addition of popular networks such as Discovery Channel it will only get stronger. We are very excited about the future of this service and the increased access and flexibility it will bring to our customers."
According to Comcast, Discovery is the 24th channel/network to join the On Demand Online technical trial, which launched last month with approximately 5,000 customers. The others are: HBO, CBS, TNT, TBS, Starz, Cinemax, A&E, AMC, BBC America, DIY Network, Fine Living Network, Food Network, Hallmark Channel, HGTV, History, IFC, MGM Impact, Sundance, WE tv, E!, The Style Network, G4 and Fearnet. The trial, which is using video technology from Move Networks and thePlatform, is designed primarily to test Comcast's new "authentication" technology, which is intended to restrict online access to pay-TV content to customers who have already paid for that content. The MSO says that On Demand Online uses a simple log-on system for streaming content and that, in the future, the service will allow customers to download content to go. The service is slated to be rolled out in phases, adding new features, functionality and content over time.
