Time Warner drops iPad channels
April 1, 2011
Time Warner Cable has bowed to pressure from rights holders and removed several channels from its app for sending linear channels from subscriber bundles to their iPad.
The cable company withdrew channels including MTV and FX, after receiving complaints from Viacom, Discovery Communications and the News Corp. They claim that the iPad app is a contract violation — in part because they want cable companies like Time Warner Cable to pay them more for the privilege to stream their channels to portable devices. Viacom and the News Corp had sent cease-and-desist letters to Time Warner Cable. Time Warner Cable has said that it believed it had “every right to carry the programming on our iPad app.”
Now TWC says “for the time being, we have decided to focus our iPad efforts on those enlightened programmers who understand the benefit and importance of allowing our subscribers — and their viewers — to watch their programming on any screen in their homes. In the meantime, we will pursue all of our legal rights against the programmers who don’t share our vision.”
It says it will add new channels replacing the channels removed. The app previously had 32 channels, only a portion of the channels available through the traditional set-top box.