NBCUniversal is leading the TV Everywhere (TVE) initiative when it comes to providing access to TV content on smart phones, tablets and other second screens.
That is according to a report from research/analytics firm IHS Inc. NBCU provides TV Everywhere--authenticated Internet access--for 83% of the studio's total cable and broadcast network content to pay-TV subs' second screens.
That would appear a wise move given a new Pew study that found that more than a third of Americans 16-plus own a tablet. That number could increase with Appel's expected release of new iPad's next week.
HBO and Epix were cited as supplying more TVE content than any other premium of basic cable network, although Showtime is the only premium net offering live linear streaming.
HBO, along with Cinemax and BTN2Go, are the only nets with TVE agreements with all major US pay TV operators, while STARZ and Encore still don't have deals with Comcast or Dish
While Discovery has not yet gotten into the TVE business, the report suggests it will be joining the crowd in the "near to midterm."
IHS says TVE is one way to try to stem the tide of cable cord-cutters by filling those second screens with cable content rather than over-the-top competitors, but it also says at at $28, the combined price of Netflix, Hulu Plus and Aereo "may be more appealing to consumers than the $80+ average revenue per user that IHS estimates pay-TV video customers will pony up for service in 2013."
