"The industry’s eye is currently on the password ball, but it’s time to look for answers beyond login credentials, and find something more personal than even a password. It must be something that we can’t just give away — namely our devices." —John Kavanagh, Synacor 

Piracy. Abuse. Theft. Sharing. The common practice of giving a friend, relative or stranger login credentials so they can watch pay TV without paying has been characterized in several ways. Cable operators and some networks have made varying degrees of public comments, classifying the challenge as everything from a nuisance to a serious problem. Analyst firm Parks Associates projects that “password sharing” will soon be a $10 billion problem for operators.

Over-the-top and TV everywhere service uptake is booming, in part because operators and networks have enabled sign-in across many different devices and connected TVs. But being able to use many screens at once with a video subscription has contributed to the rampant password sharing plaguing the industry. A better strategy is needed fast as stakeholders seek to grow their OTT businesses while attempting to thwart viewing abuse that will soon have a major impact on already slimming margins.

The solution? Turn consumer devices into unique passwords that can’t be so easily shared and empower operators to monitor how many devices are being used with a video subscription.

Threading the Needle

Sending password sharing into decline will require a precise, multi-pronged approach that addresses the trends driving the practice while avoiding draconian security measures that will alienate subscribers. And what is it that consumers really want? High on the list are portability, value and simplicity.

Let’s talk cost and value first. Yes, there’s a stigma around cable TV being increasingly expensive, but the customized digital bundles from virtual multichannel video programming distributors and direct-to-consumer offerings from networks are starting to provide strong options for everyone, including the budget conscious. Even the major MVPDs are introducing these offerings, such as Comcast’s Xfinity Instant TV announced last year.

Password sharing is easier today because logging in to TV everywhere has gotten a lot more convenient than in its cumbersome early days. This simplicity shouldn’t change — in fact, it has to get even easier to bring more viewers into the fold. Overcoming this technical hurdle means giving service providers tools to monitor and enforce their viewing terms of service without hurting the subscriber experience.

Watching content anywhere with ease is getting better but it must continue to improve. Today, some TV everywhere services are the easiest to log into because they rely on home-based authentication, or the subscriber being connected to their service provider’s own broadband network for authentication. But subscribers need a solution that makes it easy for them to log in from any network. There continue to be rights issues to address on this front, but more flexibility is being introduced every day.

Focus On the Device, Not the Password

The industry’s eye is currently on the password ball, but it’s time to look for answers beyond login credentials, and find something more personal than even a password. It must be something that we can’t just give away — namely our devices. For instance, a subscriber could register a phone, tablet, PC and connected TV as devices authorized to access their pay TV service. Then they can manage all those devices online to easily spot any unauthorized usage.

Operators and networks also get greater control and visibility. If they’ve already authorized a device, they can keep the subscriber automatically logged in — forever if they choose. Because this approach is device-centric, operators can automatically authenticate content on any network, not just their own broadband service. This is critical to supporting out-of-home viewing because it requires visibility into how content is being accessed at all times. They can also monitor the number of concurrent devices accessing services to spot abuse or ensure usage is in line with contracts. In time, operators would gain an understanding of subscriber behavior and viewing patterns to further help detect and reduce fraud.

Sharing a password is easy; sharing a device … not so much. These are some of the fundamental strategies Synacor recently discussed when it met with the Cable & Telecommunications Association for Marketing and members of NCTA–The Internet & Television Association to discuss the issue. Pairing powerful content protection with a better viewing experience lets operators combat abuse while making it easier for TV fans to watch the content they love anywhere they go.

The right approach for any operator or network that is considering how to overcome password abuse while making service login even easier comes down to business goals and consumer demands. Is deeper engagement with TV everywhere services desired? What is a reasonable sign-in frequency? A better return on investment? Is there a desire to let users watch on the devices of their choice?

It may come as a surprise that a device-centric approach to login could be the answer.

John Kavanagh is vice president, product management, at Synacor, a technology and services company.

Synacor said it has renewed and expanded its deal with Media Communications.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but Synacor said the new deal extends its existing portal and advertising agreement and expands Mediacom’s use of Advanced Cloud ID, Synacor’s identity management and authentication platform that will enable Mediacom to use apps tied to their pay TV subscription without having to repeatedly enter user names and passwords.  

RELATED: Synacor Cracks Down on Password Abuse  

Mediacom has also reupped its agreement to use Synacor’s Zimbra email and collaboration platform. Synacor acquired Zimbra in 2015.  

Other Synacor customers from the service provider arena include Service Electric Cablevision, Sling TV, PlayStation Vue, AT&T, HBO, WideOpenWest, Armstrong Cable, Atlantic Broadband, CenturyLink Cable One, Cincinnati Bell, Mediacom Communications, Verizon, GCI, Hotwire, Charter Communications, Windstream, and Grande Communications, among others. 

As part of a marketing and retail relationship with Apple, Charter Communications will offer the Apple TV 4K device to its pay TV customers and will back that up with a version of the Spectrum TV app that runs on and is tightly integrated with Apple's TV-connected streaming device. 

Charter’s Spectrum TV app for Apple TV will be introduced later this year and offer pay TV subscribers with access to live channels and “tens of thousands” of VOD programs.

Charter’s Spectrum TV app currently supports several other platforms, including iOS and Android smartphones and tablets, Roku TVs and Roku players, Xbox One consoles, Samsung smart TVs (2012 and newer models), and Amazon Kindle Fire and Fire HDX 2 gen tablets

Charter and Apple haven’t detailed the retail relationship involving the new 4K-capable Apple TV device, but Charter has previously worked with Roku on retail-focused promotions that center on Roku players.

“We are excited to be collaborating with Apple and look forward to be bringing the Spectrum TV App to Apple TV later this year," Charter said in a statement. 

The new Spectrum TV app for the Apple TV, iPhone and iPad will be integrated with Siri. Charter will also be offering the iPhone and iPad as the MSOs moves ahead with its plans to introduce a mobile service that leans on Charter’s MVNO deal with Verizon Wireless. Charter reportedly plans to launch its mobile service, to be called Spectrum Mobile by the end of the month.

RELATED: Charter Testing Mobile Product with 5K Employees

Apple and Charter announced their relationship today during Apple’s WWDC keynote.

Tied in, Apple introduced its newest operating system for the Apple TV, tvOS. The new version of tvOS aims to further simplify the authentication process using a “zero sign-on” feature that detects the user’s broadband network and automatically signs that user in for all supported apps they get through their subscription without having to type in user names and passwords.

Apple said the zero-sign on feature will launch with Charter later this year and expand to other MVPDs over time.

Other MVPDs that have begun to offer their customers Apple TV 4K devices with their services include AT&T’s DirecTV Now, Canal+ in France and Salt in Switzerland, Apple noted.

As part of its preview for tvOS 12, Apple said its 4K-capable TV device will support both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos. This fall, iTunes will offer what’s being billed as the largest collection of Dolby Atmos-supported movies, with those titles including Dolby Atmos audio for no added charge. 

The tvOS developer preview is available today for Apple Developer Program members. Apple expects to make the new version of tvOS available this fall as a free software update for Apple TV 4K and the Apple TV 4 generation box. 

Apple introduced the Apple TV 4K last fall. 

Synacor posted record revenues in Q4, but shareholders punished the company’s stock as revenues from the company’s portal deal with AT&T aren’t scaling up as quickly as originally anticipated.

RELATED: Synacor Shares Soar 119% on AT&T Deal

The situation with AT&T isn’t new, as Synacor announced last August that revenues linked to its portal agreement with AT&T would be delayed into 2018. When the deal was announced in May 2016, the original expectation was that revenues from the contract would reach about $100 million per year following full deployment that, at the time, was seen starting in 2017.

In the last three quarters of 2017, Synacor generated about $25 million in revenue from the AT&T deal, as AT&T has chosen, for the near term, to prioritize consumer experience and engagement, Himesh Bhise, Synacor’s CEO, said on the earnings call, noting that Synacor’s 2018 guidance reflects the annualized 2017 run rate.

For full year 2018, Synacor expects revenues of $150 million to $155, or growth in the range of 7% to 11%, and a net loss of $4.4 million to $8.6 million.

“Clearly, this forecast is below the $100 million annual revenue target that AT&T and Synacor announced when we first discussed the portal contract and was a critical element of Synacor's $300 million 2019 target,” Bhise said, but stressed that the agreement still “reflects market validation of the quality of our platform and enables us to continue to advance our products with one of the nation's largest telecommunications companies.”

UPDATE:Synacor shares closed Friday at $1.75 each, down 30 cents, or 14.63%.

But progress is still being made, as the ATT.net portal is engaging “millions of customers every month,” and Synacor and AT&T have collaborated on the launch of more than 35 microsites that promote AT&T services and drive traffic to ATT.net, Bhise said.

And despite the slower than expected growth from the AT&T engagement, Synacor posted Q4 revenues of $46 million, up 32% from the year-ago, marking a quarterly record for the company. That was driven in part by growth in Synacor’s publisher advertising and software businesses, Bhise said.

Synacor also announced that it has expanded its authentication authorization deal with HBO to also include HBO Now (the programmer’s direct-to-consumer OTT subscription service), complementing earlier work with HBO Go, its TV Everywhere product.

In a move that aims to simplify and streamline the TV Everywhere authentication process, Amazon has begun to roll out a single-sign-on (SSO) feature for Fire TV devices.

RELATED: WatchTVEverywhere Extends Support for Apple’s Single Sign-On Platform

Amazon, which hinted at the SSO feature last fall with the intro of a new Fire TV model, is supporting SSO on a select number of TVE apps from programmers for consumers who get pay TV service from certain MVPDs. The feature lets viewers use all of those supported apps after inputting their TVE credentials once.

RELATED: Amazon Sparks Fire TV with 4K and HDR

Out of the chute, SSO on Fire TV will be supported by TV Everywhere apps from Freeform, Syfy, USA, Bravo, E!, Telemundo, CNN (CNNgo), A&E, History, Lifetime, TCM, HDTV, Food Network DIY, Travel Channel, Cooking Channel,  AMC, BBC, and Hallmark. Support for apps from TBS and TNT is coming soon. Amazon said SSO is being rolled out to individual apps “over the next several hours.”

RELATED: Single Sign-On Giving TV Everywhere Numbers a Boost: Adobe

Amazon noted that SSO on Fire TV works with most pay TV providers that support the feature via Adobe Experience Cloud, including Dish Network, DirecTV/AT&T, Verizon Fios, Cox, Optimum (Altice USA) and others. 

RELATED: CTAM Teams With Adobe on ‘Universal’ TV Everywhere Sign-In Platform

Comcast currently does not support SSO on Fire TV, though Comcast video subs can apply their credentials to use the individual network apps on Fire TV.  

Amazon said it’s working on adding more partners for SSO on Fire TV. Apple has also been working to broaden adoption of its SSO capability for iOS and Apple TV devices. 

Apple’s new “TV” app that aims to be a central, unified hub for separate apps that offer an array of movies and TV shows for streaming has gone live on the Apple TV, Phone and iPad.

 As an aggregated OTT guide of sorts, Apple introduced the TV app in October, hopeful that it will change how consumers watch TV across its devices because they won’t have to constantly toggle between individual apps while also tying in access to the iTunes store and a user’s iTunes library.  

RELATED: Apple Unveils ‘TV’ App

The biggest criticism has been the app’s lack of support for popular streaming services like Netflix and Amazon Prime. TechCrunch notes that apps from providers such as Hulu and HBO Now are supported at launch. The Verge said the app is being released with iOS 10.2 and tvOS 10.1.

Among early reviews, TechnoBuffalo isn’t impressed with the app because the linkages between the TV app and individual apps can be a confusing mess. But the reviewers it does point out that the new TV app from Apple lets users can integrate access to content from apps from programmers such as CBS, Starz, Showtime, The CW, Crunchyroll and CuriosityStream, and HBO Now, but not HBO Go, the premium service’s TV Everywhere offering.

The debut of the TV app from Apple follows the recent launch of a single sign-on feature for authenticated TVE services, though it initially supports a small smattering of apps from MVPDs and individual programmers.

RELATED: Apple’s Single Sign-On for TV Everywhere Apps Still Hit and Miss

The number of MVPDs and programmers that are supporting Apple’s single sign-on feature for Apple TV and iOS has grown since its sparse beta debut last month, but buy-in from those providers is still hit and miss as the feature gets rolled out commercially. 

RELATED: Few MVPDs Part of Apple’s Single Sign-On Mix

Per the latest support page for Apple’s SSO feature, MVPD support is limited to CenturyLink (Prism TV), DirecTV, Dish Network and Sling TV, GTA, GVTC, Hawaiian Telecom, Hotwire, and MetroCast.

RELATED: CTAM Teams With Adobe on ‘Universal’ TV Everywhere Sign-In Platform

A much larger batch of authenticated TV Everywhere apps from the programmers support the component, but device support is not uniform:

iOS only: A&E, History, Lifetime,

tvOS only: Bravo Now, E! Now, HBC, Syfy Now, Telemundo Now, USA Now

iOS and tvOS: Hallmark Channel Everywhere, Watch HGTV, Watch Food Network, Watch Cooking Channel, Watch DIY, and Watch Travel Channel.

RELATED: Adobe, Synacor Back Apple’s Single Sign-On Effort

Apple is also gearing up to introduce its new “TV” app  for iPhones and iPads that will attempt to aggregate and unify access to TV shows and movies offered by individual apps.

Synacor said it and AT&T have agreed to push back the launch of a next-gen desktop and mobile portal service to the first half of 2017.

When the contract was signed, they originally estimated that initial, limited deployments would be underway by Q4 2016, but revised that plan after teams from both sides began to craft more detailed development and deployment plans.

RELATED: Synacor Shares Soar 119% on AT&T Deal

“Given the size and expanded scope of this project and our prior recent joint planning, we've pushed back the official launch date,” Synacor CEO Himesh Bhise said Monday on the company’s Q3 earnings call. "The teams are working very well together."

The current plan is to launch new desktop and mobile apps in the first half of 2017, and then ramp up to complete the deployment through the rest of the year.

Bhise stressed that the overall financial expectation of the AT&T contract is “very much on track,” reiterating that the annual revenue run-rate from the project is still targeted for about $100 million once full deployment is reached.

“We remain pleased with our progress to date,” he said.

On that point, he noted that AT&T and Synacor have already introduced a beta of the new AT&T Live 2.0 mobile app for Android. The beta app, last updated on November 9, provides a curated news feed, breaking news alerts, and trending videos, among other features. So far, the beta app has received a consumer rating of 4.1 out of 5.

Synacor has also adjusted its Q4 guidance to reflect the revised timing of the contribution from the AT&T contract. The vendor, which specializes in customized portals, advertising, video streaming and TV Everywhere authentication technologies, current expects Q4 revenues of $34 million to $38 million, and EBITDA of up to $1 million.

For Q3, Synacor posted revenues of $31.7 million, up 20%, and above guidance of $29 million to $31 million. Advertising revenues rose 38% year-over year. The company also posted a net loss of $3.4 million due to product development investment for the AT&T project.

On the TVE front, Synacor said its Cloud ID business won deals with an SVOD service from a public telecom company and with an also yet-to-be-named regional cable provider.

Synacor also noted that it’s supporting the deployment of Apple’s Single Sign-On platform for video apps and cited its ongoing work for industry-wide standards with CTAM and the OATC (Open Authentication Technology Committee).

RELATED: Synacor: Our TVE Authentication Angle ‘In Alignment’ with CTAM Guidelines

In an interview, Bhise said “several” Synacor MVPD customers are now live with SSO on the Apple platform. “Our job is to make it easier for those operators that decide they want to participate on the Apple platform.”

Synacor also announced it had filed a shelf registration statement aimed at providing the company “with flexibility to access the capital markets in a timely manner.”  Per the shelf registration statement, once declared effective by the SEC, Synacor may from time to time issue common stock up to an aggregate amount of $40 million.

“As we continue to accelerate our growth strategy and identify opportunities for expansion, we recognize that potential access to additional capital and the ability to provide opportunities for institutional investors to access Synacor stock could be beneficial, and we have filed this shelf registration to give us that optionality,” Bhise said in a statement.

“As one can surmise from our current financial performance, we do not have any present plans to issue securities under this registration statement,” he added on the Q3 call.

Synacor ended Q3 with $15.0 million in cash and cash equivalents, versus $16.3 million at the end of the prior quarter.

Synacor also said an initiative called “3/30/300” -- with a goal of generating $300 million in revenues and $30 million in EBIDTA in three years – is also on track.

Apple introduced a beta form of its new single sign-on for Apple TV (tvOS 10.1) and iOS (10.2) and it’s getting underway with underwhelming initial support from MVPDs.

According to outlets such as Apple Insider and MacRumors, just four MVPDs (or three, depending on whether you count Sling TV separately from Dish Network) are supporting Apple’s SSO implementation out of the chute: Sling TV, Dish, GVTC Communications, and Hotwire.  Apple tells users to sign-in directly from the app if their MVPD isn’t on the list (image source: MacRumors). 

DirecTV is expected to joining that list soon. Last month, Apple said its new SSO capability would be extended to DirecTV and Dish Network subscribers in December.

RELATED: Adobe, Synacor Back Apple’s Single Sign-On Effort

Apple hasn’t announced other MVPDs that will support the SSO feature, but more are expected to come on board in the weeks to come following its commercial rollout.

Apple is launching the function as it gets ready to deploy a new “TV” app that will launch later this year and aims to unify access to TV shows and movies from individual apps. But, like the early iteration SSO feature, it’s falling short of true unification as it won’t initially support video apps from major streaming players like Netflix and Amazon.

Adobe and Synacor said they’ve thrown their weight behind a new single sign-on (SSO) authentication system that Apple will be making available on the Apple TV as well as iOS-powered smartphones and tablets.

Apple unveiled the simplified SSO approach Monday at its Worldwide Developers Conference in San Francisco. Starting this fall, users will only have to sign in once on those devices to access authenticated TV Everywhere apps, Apple said, noting that any network-TV app can take advantage of the technology. Per Apple, once a user is signed into one network app, any other app on Apple TV from participating providers will automatically log the user into all other supported apps requiring authentication. Additionally, customers can access page of all the authenticated apps that a pay-TV provider offers during the sign-in process.

Adobe said it is working to incorporate Apple’s new APIs into all Adobe Primetime authentication software development kits, whiel also claiming that its platform is powering authentication for 95% of broadcaster and cable network sites and apps in North America today.

Synacor, meanwhile, announced the release of an identity and management platform that supports Apple’s SSO effort.

Outside the Apple universe, Adobe also collaborated with CTAM on a “unified” TVE authentication platform for in-home and out-of-home access, along with an initial mix of programmers and MVPDs that will support it in the next six to nine months. Synacor said its authentication systems are “in alignment” with CTAM’s guidelines.

Among other Apple TV-facing tidbits announced Monday, Apple said the device currently supports more than 6,000 apps and more than 1,300 video “channels.” Its integration of Siri is now capable of searching more than 650,000 TV episodes and movies. A new “live tune-in” feature will link viewers to a supported app when they command Siri to “Watch CBS News” or “Watch ESPN,” for example.

Noting that deployments of home-based authentication and single sign-on have already reduced friction for its clients, Synacor said its approach to TV Everywhere “is in alignment with CTAM guidelines” soon after CTAM and Adobe announced an “industry standard” aimed at making it easier for pay TV subs to sign on to TVE apps from programmers and MVPDs.

“Synacor’s approach to TV Everywhere authentication is in alignment with CTAM guidelines, including those for Home-Based Authentication, that Synacor has specifically helped shape through our long-standing participation in the OATC,” John Kavanagh, senior director, authentication platform at Synacor, said in a statement to Multichannel News.

Synacor “looks forward to continuing to deploy Cloud ID Advanced Authentication, Synacor's identity management platform that already implements many of CTAM’s recommended HBA & SSO best practices,” he added, noting that the company has been an early adopter of new authentication technologies such as OpenID Connect

CTAM said parts of this solution for in-home and out-of-home TVE authentication will be available this year, and that it’s part of a TVE- focused collaboration between the organization and the OATC (Open Authentication Technology Committee). Several programmers and MVPDs have committed to deploying this new “unified” TVE solution in the next six to 12 months: A+E Networks, AMC Networks, Comcast, Cox Communications, Disney/ESPN, Fox Networks Group, Mediacom Communications, NBCUniversal, Scripps Networks Interactive, Turner and Viacom.

Synacor, a company that specializes in TVE authentication systems and customized portal services, has customers that include AT&T, Armstrong, Atlantic Broadband, CenturyLink, Blue Ridge Communications, Cincinnati Bell, Hargray, Consolidated Communications, GCI, BendBroadband/TDS, Suddenlink (Altice), WideOpenWest, Verizon, Midco, Cable One, Charter Communications, Grande Communications and Hawaiian Telecom, among others. Sling TV, Dish’s OTT-TV service, uses Synacor’s Cloud ID platform.

“Synacor’s deployments of HBA and SSO,” Kavanagh added, “have already reduced friction for our Cloud ID Advanced customers; we’re thrilled that CTAM is ready to push for adoption of similar experiences across the entire industry.” 

Synacor’s technology now authenticates more than 75 million pay TV homes in the U.S., an indication that the company’s Cloud ID single sign-on product is making strides, CEO Himesh Bhise said Wednesday on the company’s Q4 2015 earnings call.

He added that Synacor, which has been on a buying binge as it shores up a strategy that factors in advanced advertising and over-the-top services, has also won another deal to support in-home and out-of-home advanced video services for a still-unnamed broadband service provider. That follows last November’s disclosure that Synacor had won a deal to provide the backend platform for an OTT service coming from “regional full service communications” provider.

Synacor has not identified those OTT partners, but its known customers include Armstrong, Atlantic Broadband, Burlington Telecom, Cable One, Blue Ridge Communications, Charter, Cincinnati Bell, Grande Communications, EPB Fiber Optics, Consolidated Communications, Suddenlink Communications, WideOpenWest, Verizon, Windstream, GVTC Communications, and CenturyLink Communications, which recently detailed new OTT products that it will offer in and out of its Prism TV footprint for managed IPTV services.

Synacor’s recent OTT focus comes after it acquired NimbleTV,  formed a partnership with Siemensand executed an integration with thePlatform, the Comcast-owned online video company.

On the financial end, Synacor posted Q4 revenues of $32.4 million, up 5% from $30.9 million in the year-ago quarter, alongside a net loss of $400,000, narrowed from a loss of $6.4 million.

However, search and advertising revenue dropped 22%, to $19.3 million. Synacor is looking to drive more ad revenue for its service provider customers via its recent $3 million acquisition of Technorati.

Synacor ended 2015 with $15.7 million in cash and cash equivalents. 

Cablevision Systems said it is the first MVPD to provide authenticated access to CBS’s live streaming feed, so long as they’re accessing it in a market that is served by a CBS owned and operated station.

Cablevision subs can use their TVE credentials to view a live stream of CBS when in a market served by a CBS O&O, which today includes New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis, Miami, Denver, Sacramento, Pittsburgh and Baltimore.

Cablevision’s authenticated access to the CBS live stream comes on the heels of a multi-year content carriage deal announced last August that covered retransmission consent for CBS-owned stations, continued carriage of Showtime, CBS Sports Network and Smithsonian Channel. It also made  Cablevision the first pay TV provider to announce plans to distribute CBS All Access and Showtime streaming services to broadband (Optimum Online) customers.

CBS noted on its Web site that it expects to add more providers to the streaming mix soon. 

Prior to the Cablevision agreement, CBS had limited access to those live streams to subscribers of the broadcaster’s subscription service, CBS All Access. 

“We are pleased to expand on our already robust relationship with CBS by becoming the first provider to launch the network’s new live streaming feature,” said Tom Montemagno, executive vice president, programming, Cablevision, in a statement. “Cablevision now holds distribution rights for all of CBS’s streaming platforms, demonstrating our commitment to providing customers with the ability to watch the high-quality content they desire on their own terms.”

“We applaud Cablevision in recognizing the value of delivering CBS programming to its subscribers outside the home, so they can watch CBS whenever they want on whichever device they choose,” added Ray Hopkins, president, television networks distribution at CBS Corp. 

Charter Communications CEO Tom Rutledge, never a fan of subscribers who share their TV Everywhere passwords with family members outside of their homes, said that practice, especially with college students, is cutting into pay TV subscriber growth results.

While he said that lower household incomes are a big factor in the decline of overall pay TV subscriber rolls -- people simply can't afford pay TV -- Rutledge added that service theft is becoming an increasingly important problem.

“A lot of the TV Everywhere product and other products available online is not secured well,” Rutledge said. “You have people joking about sharing passwords and authentication on award shows. That ‘s a real issue.”

Rutledge pointed to the college market, where Charter has been successful in selling data-only to students, but not so much video because they are using their parents’ authentication passwords to get video for free.

“The lack of control over the content by content companies and the authentication processes has reduced the demand for video because you don’t have to pay for it,” Rutledge said. “Because of our sales techniques, we’re actually growing. But there is a trend there that is negative that is associated with the lack of authentication processes.”

Charter finished the third quarter with 12,000 basic video subscriber additions.

Later, Rutledge said a lot of the video theft blame rests on content providers, who have encouraged consumers to watch via their own apps.

Rutledge said that by allowing consumers to access their content for free, programmers are lowering its overall value.

“At a core level they haven’t been in that business before and haven’t really thought through what they’re doing,”  Rutledge said of content companies.  “Now they are sending their signal out themselves and they don’t seem to have thought through what the implications of that are and they have created a problem where they have devalued their own product. It’s a real issue.”

 The Charter CEO kept it simple when explaining why the company has managed to grow video customers while competitors have seen their growth slow.

“The competition continues to aggressively promote products at lower price points,” Rutledge said. “We think fundamentally we have better products than they do.”

Charter is moving forward with its planned purchases of Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks and still hopes it can close the deal by the end of the year. Rutledge didn’t have many details to give on the process, but said once the deal is done, Time Warner Cable systems will likely follow Charter’s pricing regime, which could mean the elimination of modem fees and a lowering of set-top box charges.

“We would tend to go toward our pricing model,” Rutledge said in response to a question about the set-top and modem charges. Time Warner Cable raised some hackles when it first implemented the fees in 2011 for new customers, extending the charges to include existing subscribers in 2012. The company increased the fees in most of its markets from $3.95 per month to $5.95 per month in 2013. 

He added that Charter is interested in participating in the upcoming broadcast spectrum auction, but that the company has made no firm decision.

“We’re interested in it,” Rutledge said. “We are in a very awkward situation given the pendency of our deal [with Time Warner Cable and Bright House] to be able to participate in that. But we are exploring it.”

Synacor said it has struck an expanded multiyear deal with Mediacom Communications that includes a next-gen Web portal, TV Everywhere authentication, and digital advertising solutions.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but they said the new agreement covers a redesigned, consumer user interface, a new search and discovery metadata platform, a refined TVE login process, and targeted content syndicated by Synacor.

“At Mediacom, our mission is to provide our customers with access to their favorite content, no matter the device,” John Pascarelli, Mediacom’s executive VP of operations, said in a statement. “Synacor’s advanced products help us deliver a great user experience, both inside and outside the home.”

“It is a strong endorsement of our products, technology and monetization capabilities to extend and expand our longstanding partnership with Mediacom,” added Himesh Bhise, a former Charter Communications, Comcast and AOL exec who was named CEO of Synacor last August. “Mediacom has an innovative spirit, and together our teams are delivering on the promise of superior digital services and customer care.”

In addition to Mediacom, Synacor’s customers include Armstrong, BendBroadband, Buckeye CableSystem, Google Fiber, CenturyLink, Cable One, Charter, Suddenlink Communications, WideOpenWest, Surewest Communications and Verizon Communications, among others. 

Shares in Synacor rose more than 9% Wednesday after the developer of TV Everywhere and OTT video authentication systems and customized Web portals announced fourth quarter earnings and revenues that handily beat guidance while also dropping in word that it is working with Sling TV, Dish Network's new OTT pay-TV service.

Update: Synacor shares reversed course Thursday, dropping 20 cents (8.51%) to $2.13 each in afternoon trading. 

Sling TV, which launched nationally on February 9, has selected Synacor’s Cloud ID platform to authenticate and authorize Sling TV subscribers, Himesh Bhise, Synacor’s CEO, announced Wednesday on the company’s earnings call.

“Cloud ID will provide access control, entitlement vertification and fraud prevention” to Sling TV, he added. “Sling TV is at the vanguard of delivering TV services to broadband-connected devices and we are proud to be supporting them in this venture. “

On the financial front, Synacor posted revenues of $30.9 million, exceeding guidance of $25.3 million to $27 million, and EBITDA of $4 million, ahead of a guided range of $1.3 million to $2.3 million.

Synacor, which laid off about 20% of its workforce last fall as part of a restructuring, is forecasting first quarter revenues of $24 million to $26 million.

While Synacor’s fourth quarter results helped to boost Synacor’s stock, they are also amplified because Synacor, in recent months, has been dealing with two dissident shareholders that have previously pressed the company to seek a sale.

“We are executing well against our new strategy and have been working with the sense of urgency to drive both revenue growth and operating discipline,” said Bhise, who was named CEO last August.

Tied in, Synacor said it has reduced its dependency on desktop search as it looks to grow video inventory inquiries and display impression metrics become less relevant.

According to Bhise, Q4 marked the first time in Synacor’s history that advertising revenue exceeded search revenue.  Search revenue, he said, represented 36% of revenue while advertising represented 45%, versus 50% and 32%, respectively, in the year earlier quarter.

Bhise also reiterated that Synacor is working with partners to create a an end-to-end streaming video platform. Of recent note, Synacor added some streaming tech to its own portfolio through the acquisition of Nimble TV.  

Bhise added that Synacor has also been evaluating partnerships for other elements, including workflow management, coding and playback services, and will be “announcing an important partner in this area next week.”

Cartoon Network thinks it’s time to bring some adventure to its TV Everywhere platform.

The network will kick off an affiliate-supported, 10-city tour in Kansas City on Sept. 27 centered around its long-running, animated series, Adventure Time.

In the first affiliate promotion of this stripe, Cartoon Network executives hope the family-friendly events aim to drive home the message about TV Everywhere in general and the benefits of Watch Cartoon Network in particular.

“Adventure Time is one of Cartoon Network’s most popular series, and we’re pleased to bring this beloved brand to life by partnering with our distribution affiliates for fans in their local markets,” said Heather Baldino, senior vice president of marketing and revenue integration for Turner Network Sales.

Those attending the highly trafficked Nebraska Furniture Mart outlet in KC, as well as stops in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Denver and San Francisco and others that are part of the tour, will find costumed versions of the show’s Finn and Jake characters, amidst an Adventure Time branded environment, replete with a co-branded green screen. Product demonstrations will also be on the docket, as attendees can pick up related literature.

Moreover, at the Watch Cartoon Network/TV Everywhere bean bag toss game brand ambassadors from Cartoon and the in-market affiliate will inform participants about their TVE options, telling them about the authentication process, where they can simulcast the linear Cartoon Network and on what devices. They will also show users how to navigate the service and engage in its clips and games.

“There’s no better way to demonstrate and explain the power of TV Everywhere than in person, and this promotion is a perfect way for Turner to showcase both the value of the Cartoon Network brand and for the affiliates to showcase the value of having a cable subscription – it’s a win-win for everyone,” said Baldino.

She noted that the promotion affords affiliates flexibility as they also “can leverage this co-branded, family-friendly event for local ad sales and on-site sales opportunities,” as well as the TVE gambits.

Baldino believes that the popularity of Adventure Time, which has been picked up for a seventh season, will appeal to kids and their parents.

The premiere episode of Adventure Time's sixth campaign attracted more than 4.3 million viewers on April 21, according to Nielsen live+7 data. The delivery led Cartoon to the top spot among all kids/boys 2 to 11 and 6 to 11, plus tweens 9-14.

The season premiere also ranked as the network’s top telecast in 2014 to-date among boys 9 to 14.

Debuting on April 5, 2010, Adventure Time over the years has featured guest-voicing from the likes of Matthew Broderick, Donald Glover, Donald Faison, George Takei, Erik Estrada, Andy Milonakis, Emo Phillips, Bobcat Goldthwait, Susie Essman, Anne Heche, Rainn Wilson and Andy Samberg.

Whenever the topic of TV Everywhere usage comes up, tricky and kluge authentication systems are typically viewed as the biggest barriers to wide-scale consumer adoption.

While authentication systems have been an easy target of disdain and scorn, pay-TV providers and their partners have made some strides with in-home auto-authentication, with improved out-of-home authentication one of the items on TVE’s tech roadmap. A recent study from Adobe found that TVE adoption is indeed on the rise, even if it usage represents a smidgen of overall viewing.

A new study from TDG, meanwhile, suggests that authentication is not what’s hindering widespread use of TVE services, finding in a survey of 758 people TVE users that just 7% of users found the process something less than easy, while 19.1% found it “very easy” (see chart).

TDG president and director of research Michael Greeson holds that authentication isn’t that big of a deal, since logging in is a common, not-so-foreign activity now for most people who do anything on the Web.

"Unfortunately, authentication has been demonized by industry executives as a key reason TVE use is not more widespread. Unfortunately, pointing to authentication as the cause of slow TVE uptake is a red herring, distracting attention from the real culprits: poor marketing and the inconsistent availability of the newest shows,”  Greeson said in a statement.

I don’t know if I’d go as far as saying authentication is a red herring when it comes to TVE adoption. While I agree that the actual act of logging in is easy enough, not everyone knows what their TVE-facing user names and passwords are, and having to track down that information is still a time-consuming, mind-numbing chore. It’s too early to take authentication off the hook or to declare that it’s now a non-issue.

But he also makes the point that TVE more significant challenges are on the marketing and content fronts.

It’s hard not to agree with that, as CTAM tries to tackle TVE's marketing challenges (Sorry, I just can't bring myself to use the suggested lower-case branding treatment of TV Everywhere...old habits die hard, you know?).

From a content perspective, TVE is still frustrating and confusing. The amount and type of content offered via TVE from one MVPD or programmer is different than another. Some offer live linaer feeds, others don’t. And some live feeds are supported only when the customer is on the home network, while others can be streamed from outside the home. Some on-demand offerings provide access to a full season of a TV show, while others give you access to a small sampling of the current season. And on and on. The only thing uniform about TVE content today is that none of it is uniform.

And that all comes down to the digital rights and how the players are trying to monetize TVE, which is another important challenge the distributors and programmers are facing.  

While all of these challenges and issues are steadily improving, there's still plenty of blame to spread around. And I'm still looking at you, Mr. Authentication.