Did you miss that episode of Glee last night? Starting August 15, you'll have to wait eight days before you can watch it online, unless you have a Hulu Plus or DISH Network subscription.
Fox Networks and Fox Broadcasting Company have announced a new authentication program that will require a cable or Hulu subscription for immediate access to online content. At this point, DISH Network is the only provider signed on for the service, but Fox said it expects to add more cable providers in the future.
Starting next month, shows like Glee, Bones, The Simpsons, and Family Guy will be accessible via hulu.com, dishonline.com, and through participating cable providers' Web sites. If you don't have a Hulu or cable subscription, the content will be posted online after eight days.
Channels like ESPN already have authentication services, but Fox is the first broadcast network to select this route.
"We are continually looking at opportunities to provide our pay television distributors with content and products that enhance the value of pay television to subscribers," Michael Hopkins, president of Affiliate Sales and Marketing at Fox Networks, said in a statement. "Our new authentication service will continue to provide next-day access to Fox broadcast shows for our viewers who subscribe to participating pay television providers."
"Early access to Fox.com is a terrific addition to our expansive TV Everywhere platform, which gives DISH Network customers the ability to watch whatever they want anytime, anywhere," said Dave Shull, senior vice president of programming for DISH Network.
TV Everywhere is an initiative that lets cable subscribers watch content online. It started in June 2009, with Time Warner providing online access to TNT and TBS content. Comcast kicked off a test of the technology with 5,000 customers a month later and expanded its offerings earlier this year.
The growth of online video access, from Hulu to Netflix, has been a point of concern for TV providers. Will free, online content lead to cord cutting? During a June appearance at The Cable Show in Chicago, top cable execs said they had not yet seen evidence of widespread cord cutting, but they acknowledged that services like Netflix were becoming real competitors.
Netflix, meanwhile, recently separated its streaming-only and DVD plans, increasing the price of a streaming plus one DVD plan from $9.99 per month to $15.98 per month. It remains to be seen how that will affect Netflix's overall subscriber numbers, but starting today, those with a streaming plan can now watch the first four seasons of Mad Men, a deal first announced in April.