Cable companies want a way to win with online TV

PHILADELPHIA -- 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, Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications, Cablevision Systems, General Electric's NBC Universal, News Corp., Viacom and Time Warner.

Cable networks considering the project include Time Warner's HBO, Viacom's MTV, Discovery Communications Inc., owners of Discovery channel, TLC, Animal Planet and others; Cablevision's Rainbow Media Holdings, the owner of AMC, IFC and Sundance; Turner Broadcasting, owner of CNN, TBS and TNT; as well as Scripps Networks, owner of Food Network and HGTV.

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," he said, referring to TV networks. "We get paid quite a bit of money from cable operators. ... It's important we find ways to do business that protects that business model."

At the same time, "consumers want content where they want it and when they want it," Gaspin added. If the networks don't provide it, "they'll get it any way they can."

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. Comcast calls its initiative "On Demand Online."