Just a few days after Comcast announced its acquisition of Time Warner Cable, Bloomberg is reporting that Netflix's efforts to bring its video streaming service to TWC have been put on hold. The company was in talks with many pay-TV providers, including TWC, to integrate its subscription video service with set-top boxes.
As per the report, the discussions are unlikely to progress before the Comcast-TWC deal is complete. Although Netflix was also in talks in Comcast, the No.1 cable TV and internet provider isn't as interested in adding Netflix to its boxes, given they are focusing on its own video download store which had a fairly successful launch.
"They will not be in any kind of rush to let Netflix on their cable box and cannibalize their business," Arvind Bhatia, an analyst at Sterne Agee & Leach Inc. in Dallas, told Bloomberg.
If Netflix is able to crack a deal, which seems unlikely as of now, it would put pressure on other pay-TV providers to offer the video-streaming pioneer's service as well. The company, which currently has 44.4 million online subscribers, has already cracked deals with a couple of European cable services.
With the Comcast-TWC deal set to face a thorough antitrust review by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), it looks like Netflix's plans will have to wait for some time.