Scrambling to protect their subscription revenue, TV providers Time Warner Cable and Verizon are planning to offer their paying customers shows on the Web. The old broadcast model could face a serious threat if cable shows became widely available on the Internet. The collective traditional media is already feeling the Web's presence, and it seems they are looking to nip it in the bud.

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Don't have to worry about the ads as much as you have to worry about caps and degrading other sites with the same services. I know Comcast is still keeping the caps while watching TV shows online. As far as the ads, I read that it will have the same amount of ads as on TV and you won't be able to skip over them.
What particular shows you watch online be based on what kind of cable plan you have? So if I only have the most basic cable plan, do I still get to watch the Sci-Fi channel online? If that's the case, then the customer benefits to some degree.
I used the word Sci-Fi because I think changing the name to SyFy was the dumbest thing NBC did. Then again, this is NBC we are talking about.

In the age of Tivo, downloaded TV shows and as much as the internet has grown. This is only smart for TV companies to do. Gives them another revenue stream in tough times. I personally wouldn't bother watching online, but I'm sure some people might (most likely those that travel and still want local news, etc)

I live in Mexico, and Hulu, Yahoo Music and others won't stream to me because of my IP address. I could be motivated to subscribe to a web service with reasonable fees in order to access legal copies of shows I like. So my question would be whether they even want me, outside the US, as a customer, or if they'd rather continue pushing me over to Usenet non-US servers.

People don't want to watch live tv on there computer. What people do like is the services here in the uk like 4 on demand bbc i player. Sky player. Many offering HD programs advert free. The i player lets u download and keep programs for up to 30 days. Ok. I lie. I only have a 1 meg connecting and can't stream tv. NOT FAIR!. I would love to watch tv online. Would be so much better that sky that cuts out everytime it rains heavy. That happens alot in the uk!