Here we go, Time Warner Cable has asked a federal court for a “declaratory judgment” on its right to stream live programming to its subscribers via its new iPad app.
“We have steadfastly maintained that we have the rights to allow our customers to view this programming in their homes, over our cable systems, without artificial limits on the screens they can use to do so, and we are asking the court to confirm our view,” said Time Warner Cable general counsel Marc Lawrence-Apfelbaum.
A week ago, Time Warner removed a dozen cable networks from the app after receiving complaints from Viacom, News Corp. and Discovery, reports the LA Times. And late last week, Cablevision launched a similar app that streams just about everything subscribers can watch on TV. Both are free.
As we wrote a few days ago, the battle over iPad content rights is really a battle over the “second screen.” If you can use an app to watch and control TV anywhere in the house, you’re more likely to use that app as you watch programming on your TV set. And from an advertising perspective, second screens will be ripe for new revenue.