Comcast and Time Warner Inc. on Tuesday announced an expanded "TV Everywhere" content deal that will allow Comcast customers to watch more Turner Broadcasting TV shows on the Web.
Comcast subscribers will be able to watch certain shows online shortly after they air on TV via XfinityTV.com, Comcast On Demand, certain Turner Web Sites, as well as iOS and Android apps.
Comcast will offer content from TNT, TBS, CNN, HLN, truTV, Turner Classic Movies, Cartoon Network, and Adult Swim, including "The Closer," "Men of a Certain Age," "Southland," "Conan," "Lopez Tonight," "The Venture Brothers," "Ben 10: Ultimate Alien," "Speeders," "Glory Daze," "House of Payne," "Meet The Browns," and "Piers Morgan Tonight."
The two companies also promised to offer live-streaming to portable devices at a later date.
Tuesday's announcement expands on a deal first announced in June 2009, whereby Time Warner provided online access to TNT and TBS content via a concept konwn as "TV Everywhere." Comcast kicked off a test of the technology with 5,000 customers a month later.
In August 2009, Time Warner Cable and Verizon Communications joined the "TV Everywhere" trial, which also included networks like the NBC Universal-owned Syfy channel, Time Warner Inc's TNT, HBO, and TBS; Cablevision Systems Corp's AMC, IFC and Sundance Channel and BBC America.
By February 2010, Comcast re-branded as Xfinity and rolled out the service to 11 markets with promises of new HD channels, faster Internet speeds, and the ability to watch shows online.
"When we first announced the TV Everywhere initiative with Comcast and Brian Roberts 18 months ago, it was an untested idea facing technical doubts and competitive pressures—but already more than 50 million consumers can experience some form of it from a wide range of content providers and distributors," Jeffrey Bewkes, chairman and CEO of Time Warner Inc., said in a statement.
"This multi-year agreement with Time Warner is a significant next step in our vision to deliver more content to our customers on any device, at anytime and anywhere," said Brian L. Roberts, chairman and CEO of Comcast.
Not everyone was sold on the concept of TV Everywhere. Last year, several consumers groups accused the cable industry of trying to kill online video with "TV Everywhere" and asked the Department of Justice to investigate. The cable industry dismissed the inquiry as "strange" and "backwards."
Roberts made an appearance at the Samsung keynote during this year's CES to announce that Comcast content – including live TV – will be available on the Samsung Galaxy Tab and Samsung Smart TVs by year's end.