Time Warner Cable brings live TV to the iPad

Time Warner Cable Inc. is launching an iPad application that will bring live television to the iPad, although don't plan on going farther than your frontyard as viewing will be restricted to the home.

The app, available for free download Tuesday, provides Time Warner Cable customers who pay for video and Internet to watch 30 cable channels on their Apple tablet, including Comedy Central, MTV and Fox News.

"We are tremendously excited about this app, which is the first of many that will allow our customers to harness the power of their tablet-type  devices," Time Warner Cable President Rob Marcus said in a statement.

For the moment, technical limitations prevent the app from providing access to broadcast network programming, because of the difficulties in handling regional blackout requirements and re-creating local feeds from TV stations, according to a spokesman.

Nor does Time Warner Cable have the rights to allow iPad owners to watch live TV such as "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart" once they leave home. Such flexibility would require separate agreements with programmers --and probably cost the cable operators more in license fees.

Over time, Time Warner Cable envisions adding more features, such as the ability to use the tablet as a remote control, to set home recording or watch on-demand video.

Comcast Corp. began offering its digital subscribers on-demand access to about 3,000 hours of programming last fall, including shows from HBO, Showtime, Cartoon Network and BBC America. The iPad app has been downloaded more than 1.3 million times since it launched last November. The nation's largest cable operator plans to offer live TV via the iPad before the end of the year, but like Time Warner Cable it will be available only in the home.

Cable operators are seeking to hold onto their subscribers in the face of competition from Netflix Inc. and Hulu Inc., which already stream movies and TV shows to the iPad -- effectively bypassing traditional distribution channels.

-- Dawn C. Chmielewski

Photo of Time Warner Cable's iPad application that plays live TV. Credit: AP Photo/Time Warner Cable Inc.

Comments

[National Juris Solutions]

I think that is prety cool to watch it anytime you want.You can watch sports games on the go!!!

[RickS]

Too bad ESPN, or any sports network for that matter, won't be part of the first 30 channels.

[Wbutterman]

I suppose Time WArner needs to do SOMETHING to slow the rate in which they lose customers. They have raised prices to unsustainable levels for even basic cable now, and it's just not worth it.

Eventually, the networks will cut a deal with Netflix, then it's over for cable tv.

[Monica]

There are 2 BIG drawbacks to this; 1)You need to have Time Warner Cable account, 2) You need to be at home.
So, if you're on the road, then you can't watch TV with it.
Really, all you need is a computer with TV software and you can watch regular TV with any web connection. The one I use is the TVDevo website. It's carries both live and on-demand TV shows and streams online, and there's no monthly subscription fee.

[Mike]

Meanwhile, Charter can't even get their new, web-based email access to work on the iPad. Time Warner has a bad reputation but at least they're trying...

[Dennis Halloran]

Works great, CNBC, Food Channel

[Jeff Shiffman]

Well, they are headed in the right direction, but still have a long ways to go. In the end, a TWC subscriber should be able to watch what comes on their TV on their computer or other device anywhere in the world. I work abroad a lot and am able to watch my Cable service on my computer and iPhone via my slingbox. Works perfectly fine, 10,000 miles from home. There is no reason, the way I see it, that the cable provider should not be offering the same service, considering the outrages price I pay TWC for my subscription. If I am out of the country for half the year, and I am still paying for my service, then why should I not be able to use it. The Technology is there, as is proven by my Slingbox.