Time Warner Cable announced a few hours earlier that it’s releasing a new trial service as an extension of the company’s TWC TV app.
This service gives cord-cutting customers in New York City and New Jersey to stream live television via a Roku 3.
The Roku box will be given to those who apply for the beta service for free. As the company made clear, the goal of this offer is to lure cord cutters onto internet-powered apps and devices.
According to reports published last month, TWC’s internet TV option could become the next major trend, available for every screen connected to the internet.
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The service consists of three packages that the customer can choose from: the “Starter TV,” which includes basic channels like ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC – and more than 20 others – and is available for $10 per month if you sign a 12-month contract. Then there is the “Starter TV“, with Showtime and Starz which will cost you $20 per month, and last but not least, the most comprehensive plan, which includes over 70 channels with Showtime and Starz. For that, you’ll need to pay $50 per month.
Andrew Russell, a spokesman of the company, made a remark regarding the beta service being an over the top product not truly being the case.
More specifically he wrote:
“The Roku trial is not an OTT (over-the-top) product or streaming service, like Netflix or Hulu. The majority of content will be available only in the subscriber’s home. And it’s the same TV and same packages delivered to the home today over our secure network — you just don’t need a set-top box to watch it.”
As TWC CEO Rob Marcus said in an accompanying statement, we also need to highlight that the Roku trial is not video streaming which means that ultimately, it will make no difference “whether customers use a Roku or they use another IP-enabled device,” according to Marcus. So in that frame, DVR isn’t included in the program for instance, nor are features like StartOver, which lets you restart a show from the beginning if you missed the first few minutes.
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Rival companies such as Comcast and Dish Networks have decided to enter the video streaming industry. In fact, Comcast has bound to release a new TV service called Stream that will be available for $15 per month, while Dish launched its Sling TV service back in February – a TV service that offers less channels for a lower price than a standard cable package.
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