CABLEVISION TO OFFER ALL ITS CONTENT ON IPAD APP

Setting itself up for what will almost certainly be a legal battle with content providers, Cablevision has released a new app for Apple iPads that will allow users to watch all the content that they receive via cable on them. Content providers contend that such use is not covered under their agreements with cable companies. Only last week Time Warner Cable removed 11 channels from its similar app after those channels complained. However, Time Warner Cable’s app does not work outside the subscribers’ homes and is limited to 32 channels, whereas Cablevision’s Optimum app makes hundreds of channels available for live streaming — as well as thousands of titles via video-on-demand. In a statement, Cablevision, whose customers are primarily located in the New York City area, said, “The application turns the iPad into an additional television, enabling Cablevision customers to view the same live programming and VOD content already being delivered to other TVs in the home as part of the service they have paid for. Cablevision has the right to distribute programming over its cable system to iPads configured in this way under its existing distribution agreements with programming providers.”