Verizon’s first video deal for its FiOS TV puts 10 Turner Broadcasting channels in the programming lineup: CNN, TBS, TNT, Headline News, Turner Classic Movies, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, CNN International, CNN en Espanol and TNT in HD. (HBO and its networks are a different division.) It’s a good move for both, particularly if being first in gives Turner most-favored-nation status that would promise matching license fees if others sign on at higher prices. It also puts Turner in the awkward but unavoidable position of bolstering the telecom’s plans to compete head-to-head against corporate sibling Time Warner Cable for video customers. Other programmers are in a similar situation; Comcast owns a number of networks likely on Verizon’s list including E!, The Golf Channel and regional sports nets. Press release.
Another move shows Turner’s need — and desire — to move in multiple directions to get the most value from its programming: CNN.com’s long-awaited broadband news feed. The plans have been pushed back several times so the working title of “CNN Pipeline”,” as provided by TVNewser, sounds apropos for what is described as a 12-hour, 8 a.m.-8 p.m. eastern feed aimed at office workers who don’t have access to the cable news net at work. CNN execs have been promising something new and unique; how it will differ from ABC News Now remains to be seen.
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