IP TV TEST BY TWC IN NYC

IP TV TEST BY TWC IN NYC

Time Warner Cable,  like most cable and satellite TV providers, wants to attract young consumers accustomed to watching video on mobile devices. Unlike their elders, many of the young are unfamiliar with the subscription pay TV model. TWC doesn’t want to concede this market to established internet streaming video services such as Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu, so the cable operator is challenging them on their own turf.

With this in mind, TWC will soon begin testing internet protocol TV (IP TV) in New York City. One of the oldest and largest of all cable system operators, TWC will limit the test to its broadband-only customers in the city. Such customers will be offered a small bundle of channels at first- probably about twenty- for only a $10.00 addition to their monthly internet service fees. For another $10.00 per month, they get premium movie channels, including Starz and Showtime.

After the test in New York, TWC  may offer the service in its other markets.

TWC’s new IP TV service will be over-the-top (OTT), so it won’t require a standard cable set-top box. According to a report by Engadget, the service will be available through several streaming devices, though most were not named in the report. During the test period, customers will receive free Roku 3 boxes.

‘Over-the-top’ refers to content streamed over the internet, without the need for a pay TV system operator’s own licensed equipment. The ISP does not control or distribute the content. It handles only the delivery of the data packets.

TWC’s new OTT service will include both live and video-on-demand (VOD) channels.

Time Warner Cable’s new initiative follows similar efforts by its competitors. Dish Network led the way last February with Sling TV. Since then, Comcast announced that its own streaming service, called Stream, will be in operation early in 2016. Verizon has begun a limited test of it own OTT platform, called Go90, Charter Communications has announced that it will offer an OTT-only service, Sony has PlayStation Vue TV, and Apple has hinted that it will enter the OTT market soon.

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