Time Warner Cable Inc. is taking Viacom Inc. to court in a case that exposes a schism in the cable TV industry over who has licensing rights to show television programs over Internet-connected gadgets such as the iPad tablet computer.
Time Warner Cable argues that it is allowed under its existing contract to show Viacom’s content in consumers’ homes regardless of the type of device they view it on. Viacom disagrees and wants to be able to charge more money for the capability.
The fight centers on an “app” that Time Warner Cable launched last month that streams live television to Apple Inc.’s iPad tablet, but it has broader implications as the industry tries to sort out who’s owed what when content is viewed in the home on screens other than the television set.
The rise of smartphones and tablets, combined with ubiquitous high-speed Internet connections, is giving people new ways of watching TV that don’t involve their actual televisions. Figuring out licensing rights for content shown on the new gadgets is new terrain.
Time Warner Cable filed its case against Viacom on Thursday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Time Warner Cable has been embroiled in controversy since releasing the app. It was forced to drop a dozen cable channels after three big programmers — Viacom, Discovery Communications Inc. and News Corp.’s Fox Cable Networks — complained that the companies’ existing license agreements didn’t cover distributing the content to the iPad.
Time Warner Cable’s app only works for people who pay for the company’s video and Internet service and are using the iPad in their homes, while connected to the company’s modem through a Wi-Fi router. The company is asking for a “declaratory judgment” — a ruling that Time Warner is within its rights under the current agreement to show the programming that it has licensed to customers regardless of the type of screen it’s viewed on in their homes.
Disney Pledges $15 million In L.A. Fire Aid As More Celebs Learn They’ve Lost Their Homes
The Pacific Palisades wildfires torched the home of "This Is Us" star Milo Ventimiglia, perhaps most poignantly destroying the father-to-be's newly installed crib.
CBS cameras caught the actor walking through his charred house for the first time, standing in what was once his kitchen and looking at a neighborhood in ruin. "Your heart just breaks."
He and his pregnant wife, Jarah Mariano, evacuated Tuesday with their dog and they watched on security cameras as the flames ripped through the house, destroying everything, including a new crib.
"There's a kind of shock moment where you're going, 'Oh, this is real. This is happening.' What good is it to continue watching?' And then at a certain point we just turned it off, like 'What good is it to continue watching?'"
Firefighters sought to make gains Friday during a respite in the heavy winds that fanned the flames as numerous groups pledged aid to help victims and rebuild, including a $15 million donation pledge from the Walt Disney Co.
More stars learn their homes are gone
While seeing the remains of his home, Ventimiglia was struck by a connection to his "This Is Us" character, Jack Pearson, who died after inhaling smoke in a house fire. "It's not lost on me life imitating art."
Mandy Moore, who played Ventimiglia's wife on "This Is Us," nearly lost her home in the Eaton fire, which scorched large areas of the Altadena neighborhood. She said Thursday that part of her house is standing but is unlivable, and her husband lost his music studio and all his instruments.
Mel Gibson's home is "completely gone," his publicist Alan Nierob confirmed Friday. The Oscar winner revealed the loss of his home earlier Friday while appearing on Joe Rogan's... Read More