Comcast's Online Content Experiment Set To Begin By Year's End

The long-discussed Comcastonline television experiment will launch before year's end, allowingviewers to — legally — watch certain shows online for the first time.


It's up to the individual networks to decide how much of their contentis available online. For example, HBO could release all seasons of"True Blood," while AMC might decide to just do the current season of"Mad Men" and Showtime could stream two seasons of "Weeds."

A&E, AMC, BBC America, CBS, Cinemax, DIY Network, Fine Living Network, Food Network, Hallmark Channel, HBO, HGTV, History, IFC, MGM Impact, Starz, Sundance Channel, TBS, TNT, WE tv, E! Entertainment, The Style Network,G4 and Fearnet (the last of which is owned by Comcast) have signed upto be part of the initial offerings. Several of the networks are ownedby CBS, including Showtime and Sundance.

CBS does not offer its shows on Hulu.com, the successful joint projectbetween NBC Universal and Fox. However, despite Hulu's growingpopularity, it has yet to turn a profit. And Google hasn't been able tomake the hugely popular YouTube.com profitable, either. Whether thesubscriber model works in a medium - the Internet - that has wreakedhavoc on other legacy media industries such as music and newspapersbecause of its free model is yet to be seen.

There are no plans right now to offer an online-only subscriptiontrack, but if the model is a success and keeps people from leaving thecompany ...