Dish’s Online TV Video Service Eyeing Summer Bow

23 Apr, 2014 By: Erik Gruenwedel

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Broadband network would be the first of its kind in the U.S.

Dish Network’s pending over-the-top subscription TV video service — the first of its kind in the United States — reportedly is set to launch this summer.

The broadband service, which is targeting “cord-cutters” and “cord nevers,” would cost $20 - $30 monthly, and could include programming from NBC Universal, Turner Broadcasting, CBS and A&E, according to Bloomberg, which cited sources familiar with the deal.

The online service already has a license deal with The Walt Disney Co., which includes ABC TV, ESPN and Disney Channel, as part of its recent landmark retransmission agreement.

Dish currently offers online subscription service — dubbed “DishWorld” — in select international markets featuring local and regional content for $14.95 a month.

Such a service in the U.S. would bring to market the first online TV network platform — ahead of planned offerings from Verizon (which acquired Intel’s aborted OnCue effort), Sony and AT&T, among others. Comcast is currently testing a broadband-based service priced around $25 featuring basic programming.

Pay-TV operators and broadcast networks heretofore have resisted entertaining separate (from TV Everywhere) online service over concerns they would jeopardize the lucrative bundled multichannel video program distribution ecosystem.

In the United Kingdom, dominant satellite operator BSkyB operates Now TV, a broadband based subscription streaming service that also offers live sports users can pay for by the day.

 

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