HBO on your PC? It could happen sooner than you think.
Wary of the growing number of consumers watching TV shows online for free, and yet reluctant to upset viewers by yanking shows from the Internet, the nation’s largest cable operators are in talks with media conglomerates to take back control. They would create a platform to release cable TV shows online — but exclusively for paying subscribers.
It’s a delicate dance for those involved, which include Comcast Corp., Time Warner Cable Inc. and others. Cable networks considering the project include Time Warner’s HBO, Viacom’s MTV, Discovery Communications, Animal Planet and more.
Potentially at stake is the business model of cable-TV operators. They pay networks a per-subscriber fee each month for the right to carry channels. But the cable companies have groused that they are paying for content that programmers are giving away for free on the Web.
Jeff Gaspin, president of NBC’s Universal Television Group, said the idea of collaborating with cable operators on online video has been floated for a while, but talks began in earnest this year.
“There’s pressure on all of us,” Gaspin said, referring to TV networks. “We get paid quite a bit of money from cable operators.”
Gaspin and others familiar with the project said the new service likely will be free to cable-TV subscribers.
But it’s also possible a small fee might be assessed.
Sam Schwartz, executive vice president of Comcast Interactive Media, said the company isn’t looking at the effort as “some enormous new revenue opportunity” but wants to add value that will keep customers from leaving.
About 34 percent of adults who go online at home watch videos over the Internet at least every week, up from 25 percent two years ago, said a survey released Monday by Leichtman Research Group.
People aren’t yet cutting the cord en masse — the Leichtman survey found that people who watch recent TV shows online every week are not more likely to give up TV service than other people.
But the industry is heading off what could end up as a troubling trend.
After all, the availability of free content online has befuddled other media industries, from music to newspapers.
Hulu, a joint venture between NBC and Fox that streams free TV shows and movies, already has felt pressure from content providers.
It recently ended access to its shows from Boxee, a startup’s free program that lets viewers watch online shows easily on their TV sets. Industry executives say Hulu is losing money, but Hulu declined to comment on its financial status.
