A collection of public interest groups have complained to federal regulators that the cable industry’s “TV Everywhere” plans violate antitrust law. See article in the Washington Post here. In essence, the TV Everywhere approach forces an Internet TV bundle. The programming is only available to subscribers of traditional cable. Ultimately, a settlement allowing consumers to purchase an Internet only programming bundle (i.e., drop the cable requirement) would be very interesting. I think that it’s fair to say that the cable providers will fight the unbundled approach given the need to protect the legacy business.
I want my Internet TV.
February 21, 2011 at 7:10 am
I work for DISH Network and you are not required to bundle your services in order to take advantage of DISH’s TV Everywhere. In fact, I get my internet through a different company but still have the ability to watch TV, manage my recordings, and setup timers on my smart-phone or any other compatible device.