Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes says TV Everywhere,
which gives paying customers access to programming on digital devices as well
as TV, "has made tremendous progress."
Speaking on Time Warner's earnings conference call
Wednesday morning, Bewkes said the idea is being "adopted faster than expected"
and that programmers including CBS, Discovery, Liberty, NBC Universal, News
Corp. and Scripps Networks have signed on.
Bewkes first began pushing the concept of allowing
consumers to view programming if a system can be designed to authenticate that
they are paying cable or satellite subscribers. The object was to protect
premium content from being consumed on free, advertising supported web sites
like Hulu while giving customers unfettered access to content they've already
purchased.
"Widespread free distribution cannot replace dual
revenue stream business models," he said. He added that "digital presents some
challenges, but we think it clearly offers even greater opportunities."
Bewkes noted that TNT and TBS programming was
recently made available via TV Everywhere with Comcast and Dish Network. "There
are many more announcements pending," he said.
At the same time, HBO Go and Max Go should be
available in 50 million homes within a few weeks, 70 million by the second
quarter, and is running six months ahead of plan.
