The rumored Hulu sale has been the stuff of talk for months now, and earlier today we reported that it had officially been taken off the market, with the company's owners electing to keep it rather than sell. Word has surfaced over at Bloomberg, however, saying that Time Warner Cable is still in talks with those owners over a possible purchase.
It would seem that Apple TV's future could be signed off this week between Time Warner Cable and the creator of the set box itself, this according to sources close to the matter. Straight from Bloomberg comes this suggestion with a note on how the companies will not be announcing their agreement - if it does indeed go through - until later this year: "within a few months".
Microsoft and Time Warner Cable have inked a new deal that will see subscribers to Xbox LIVE get access to up to 300 live TV channels on their Xbox 360, though only if they also subscribe to the cable company. The agreement, Microsoft confirmed, will bring channels like CNN, Comedy Central, and BBC World News to the console, all with voice control using Kinect.
Time Warner Cable is attempting to combat Google Fiber, or at least suppress the damage Google Fiber will bring to its business, by offering free WiFi hotspots throughout the city of Austin, Texas. The catch is that in order for you to take advantage of TWC's "free" public WiFi hotspot, you have to already be a TWC internet subscriber. Those that aren't yet subscribers will be charged a fee.
Two years ago, Time Warner Cable released a live TV streaming app for the iPad, however, one caveat was that you could only stream live TV while inside of your home, and while connected to Time Warner's internet. Now Time Warner is looking to change that up, tomorrow, by updating its live TV streaming app for iOS devices that will let its customers stream live TV even if they're not at home.
Time Warner has just announced that it will be separating itself from Time Inc. The decision was made by its board of directors who felt that this separation is the best decision for both companies. Time Warner will cut away from the magazine business and focus all of its efforts on building its juggernaut media network comprised of a huge amount of popular TV stations as well as its movie ventures.
Super-fast internet connections like Google Fiber have only geek, not consumer, appeal, Time Warner Cable's CFO has insisted, dismissing suggestions that the ISP will need to speed up its consumer service any time soon. Speaking at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference this week, chief financial officer Irene Esteves said that while the company has the capability to deliver high internet speeds, The Verge reports, right now customers don't actually want them.
5 internet service providers, including AT&T, Verizon, Time Warner Cable, Comcast, and Cablevision launched their "Six Strikes" anti-piracy program this Monday. The program is the latest attempt for ISPs to stop its users from pirating software and media illegally. At the launch of the piracy program, the ISPs kept quiet about the consequences that would ensue if the users reached their 5th or 6th warning, but now they've explained their punishments.
Time Warner Cable has accused Netflix of discriminatory behavior, unfairly limiting content to subscribers since it demands ISPs join its Open Connect delivery system before they get select 3D and Super HD movies. "While they call it 'Open Connect', Netflix is actually closing off access to some of its content while seeking unprecedented preferential treatment from ISPs" Time Warner Cable told Multichannel News, referring to the new high-bandwidth media types Netflix announced it would offer last week.
Time Warner Cable has announced that it plans to drop Ovation, the only arts-related station offered by the cable service provider. This move is due to low viewer numbers that put Ovation near the bottom of Time Warner's offerings. As a result of the low numbers, TWC has paid out more in fees than the station is bringing in, with the cable provider having paid the station in excess of $10 million over the years.
We did it folks - we made it through another election, which means that we finally get a break from those endless political ads. It won't be long before those ads are playing all over the place again, so savor the moment while you can. We found out today that President Obama set Twitter records with that a tweet that was shared more 600,000 times, and Apple was hit with a hefty fine in a case over patents related to FaceTime. Foxconn is saying that it's still having issues keeping up with iPhone 5 production, and Pixar has named a new building after Steve Jobs.
I think it's clear that cable companies and satellite providers fear streaming content providers such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. It's also easy to see that television networks aren't exactly keen on offering their current programming to streaming companies out of fear of losing lucrative contracts from traditional cable and satellite companies. However, it's also clear that no matter what Hollywood or cable companies believe, consumers are switching to streaming services and many are leaving cable and satellite behind.