After soft-launching some "TV Everywhere" services last year, Cox Communications has taken the wraps off TV Online, its authenticated online-video site with content from Turner Broadcasting System, HBO and Cinemax, Epix, Vutopia and Hulu.
Cox's TV Online site is available to cable TV subscribers at cox.com/tv over any broadband connection. Customers do not need to be Cox broadband subscribers.
Cable programming includes shows from Turner Broadcasting System's TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network (including the Adult Swim block) and TruTV. Premium content is available from HBO's HBOGo.com and MAXGo.com, Epix and Vutopia. The service also provides episodes of broadcast network shows from ABC, NBC and Fox, through their Hulu joint venture.
Cox selected ThePlatform, Comcast's video publishing subsidiary, to provide the back-end video management for TV Online. Cox has used ThePlatform to manage video on Cox.com since 2008.
According to Cox and ThePlatform, TV Online provides a unique implementation allowing programming networks to use their own embedded custom video players on Cox's website while providing Cox subscribers with unified search and discovery.
"TV Online is yet another example of how we are making our customers' entertainment and communications flexible and customizable," Cox senior vice president of product marketing David Pugliese said. "Cox customers can now easily view their favorite programs online, anytime and anywhere."
The cable operator also noted that Cox High-Speed Internet customers have access for no additional charge to ESPN3.com, which provides up to 3,500 live events annually including college football and basketball, major professional leagues and international tennis and soccer online.
Last summer, Cox let customers who subscribe to the Movie Pak service watch movies from Epix and Vutopia online. In December of last year, Cox began offering online access to select cable networks, including TBS, TNT and HBO.
Other cable operators using ThePlatform's video-publishing system include Cablevision Systems, Comcast, Time Warner Cable and Rogers Communications.
