With Comcast poised to roll out its On Demand Online product some time this month, TV Everywhere partner Time Warner is talking up consumer's supposed willingness to pay for high-quality content.
Speaking to investors, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes said programming networks and broadband providers are onboard, and likened TV Everywhere -- an initiative to move cable networking online for a fee -- to iTunes, the iPhone and Amazon.
"It's starting to be pretty clear that there is a willingness to pay for quality content," Bewkes said. "If you look at some of the more successful Internet versions - iPhones, iTunes, iStore, Amazon - people will pay for quality and convenience. It has to be a fair deal, though."
He also said billing would be an easy process since the mechanisms to bill cable subscribers already was in place.
Rogers Communication in Canada rolled out a full-fledged version On Demand Online at the end of November. Seattle-based OVP thePlatform, which is owned by Comcast, is working with Rogers on the project; it's also tied in with Comcast, Cox, Cablevision and Time Warner on TV Everywhere projects, and as a platform of choice for a slew of programming networks.
Rogers, meanwhile, says it's still in the process of adding programming for its offering, and is looking outside its own stable for more.
For more:
- see this Wall Street Journal story
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