Hoping to address an issue that has plagued TV Everywhere usage growth since the initiative began, Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) has partnered with Adobe and CTAM to create what it is billing as a "universal" authentication platform.
"Home-based authentication is a feature that recognizes when a pay-TV customer is connected to their modem or gateway and automatically signs them in to participating MVPD and programmer websites and apps on devices in the home," said Matthew Strauss, executive VP and GM of video services for Comcast, explaining the news system in a company blog post.
"Outside of the home, [a] single sign-on will prompt customers only once to provide their credentials on a device and sign them in to all MVPD and programmer apps and websites to which they are entitled," Strauss added.
The Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing (CTAM) said the platform is an outgrowth of its work with TV Everywhere's Open Authentication Technology Committee (OATC).
The group named a number of programmers and MVPDs that are supporting the plan, including not just Comcast/NBCUniversal, but also Cox Communications, Mediacom, Disney/ESPN, Fox Networks Group, A+E Networks, Scripps Networks Interactive, Turner Networks, Viacom and AMC Networks.
In February, Adobe released figures suggesting only 17.4 percent of pay-TV customers regulatory use TV Everywhere services. Mere awareness of pay-TV authenticated services has been a challenge for groups like CTAM. However, customers have long complained about the difficulty of authentication, with myriad apps provided by programmers and MVPDs all using a different authentication protocol.
"Home-Based Authentication and Single Sign-On capabilities are crucial to expanding TV Everywhere adoption and delivering a frictionless viewing experience across screens," said Jeremy Helfand, VP of Adobe Primetime.
For more:
- read this Comcast blog post
- read this CTAM press release
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