Slingbox or Death Star?

To both cable TV distributors and cable TV programmers, the possibility that consumers will finally cut that cord probably sounds like a slashing sound somewhere near their their bottom line.  But at least one big distributor is choosing to adapt.

The New York Times reports that Time Warner Cable, one of the top cable and internet providers in the country, announced yesterday that it would soon be subsidizing the cost of Slingbox, a set-top device that untethers viewers from their home television screen and lets them watch programming from anywhere, including computers, mobile phones, or second homes.

Based on Time Warner's recent legal battles with Viacom, which owns channels such as MTV and Nickelodeon, Viacom isn't going to be very happy about getting shot in the foot. Although it's in television distributors best interest to keep up with consumer demand to watch TV in different locations and on different devices, television programmers think said distributors should shell out extra for the privilege of showing their content on different screens. (In other words, if there's a revenue opportunity there, the programmers don't want the distributors to be the only ones cashing in.) Case in point, Viacom was engaged in two lawsuits this year, one with Time Warner Cable and one with Cablevision, over showing their content on iPad apps.

The Time Warner Cable deal allows a rebate for the full $300 cost of the Slingbox device, but only for subscribers that pay for its costlier $99-per-month Wideband Internet service. Too bad the cable companies can't figure out a way to work out a similar quid pro quo deal with hometown favorite Boxee. But we guess the words "cable bypass" are pretty much a deal-breaker.

Aw Sookie Sookie now.

CEO Reed Hastings has long-tried to maintain that Netflix is not, in fact,  a nefarious plot to destroy the cable companies, but rather a "complementary" service that will leave cords to cable companies neatly intact. Whether or not Mr. Hastings is being sincere about Netflix's end goal, it looks like that's how it's playing out for now.  Using last night's True Blood premiere as bait, HBO saw its 3 millionth download of the HBO Go mobile app (for the iPad, iPhone, and Android) this weekend. The app, a direct competitor to Netflix, can be accessed for free by paying HBO cable customers.  Considering that there are 28 million HBO subscribers around the country, that means about 10 percent have tried out the app just since it premiered on May 2nd.

Time Warner and Cablevision customers in New York City still have to wait for the city's largest cable service providers to close the deal. (And deal with their Soviet-style customer service.) But the New York Post reports that talks are underway.

Unlike Netflix, which has had to decrease its offerings as studios and TV networks jack up the price and wait times, or Hulu Plus which "skimps on the number of back episodes" from popular shows, HBO's mobile app is going whole hog--screening next week's episode of True Blood directly after last night's premiere and offering more than 1,4000 episodes from shows like The Wire, Game of Thrones, and Sex and the City.  Three million is nowhere near Netflix's 23 million subscribers. But we have a feeling that HBO's decision not to let Netflix stream even one episode of those shows instantly could end up evening the odds.