Cable nets could rain on Comcast's streaming parade

Despite what the television show title might imply, it's not always sunny in Philadelphia. It's quite likely that the part of the Quaker City that houses the Comcast (Nasdaq: CMCSA) braintrust is cloudy with the chance of fierce storms on the horizon.

Cable networks have reportedly issued a flurry of legal correspondence advising the nation's top MSO that it doesn't necessarily have free rein when it comes to putting cable shows on non-cable network devices and, as one exec told MediaWeek, "we're not going to sit on our hands if they choose to ignore that fact."

Comcast Chairman Brian Roberts used Citi's 21st Annual Global Entertainment, Media and Telecommunications Conference as a launch pad for a new tablet-oriented VoD offering that could offer about 3,000 titles. Now the cable network groups are questioning their part in the deal and rattling sabers in what some observers believe could be the start of a stormy relationship.

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