NBC Affils Get Briefed On TV Everywhere Plan

A day after NBCUniversal announced the rollout of its TV Everywhere platform, affiliates are starting to ramp up for getting onboard in the fall.

The logistics and costs associated with participating in the network’s TV Everywhere initiative topped discussion at a closed-door affiliates meeting Tuesday in Las Vegas, according to Hearst Television President Jordan Wertlieb, chairman of the NBC Affiliates Board.

The mobile TV app, which has not yet been named, will launch with the NBC Owned Stations in June followed by the affiliates in the fall.

Wertlieb said he believes affiliates’ inclusion in the TV Everywhere initiative — as well a separate plan to add local ad insertions to VOD on mobile devices — is a nod to TV stations. “I consider this a transformative decision for the business,” Wertlieb said. “It gets local stations participating in the economics of the business beyond television.”

Wertlieb said the feeling about the mobile TV launch among TV stations is “overwhelmingly very positive,” although they now need answers to a host of questions about what it will take to participate.

Streaming programming via the network’s TV Everywhere app would require affiliates to get rights clearances to do so, install the technology and finalize details with MPVDs, he said.

Affiliates also are concerned about potential fallout from Comcast’s proposal to buy Time Warner Cable, he said. “The affiliates question how it would affect their business,” he said.

The merger’s effects on everything from retransmission fees to technology and advertising is of concern, he said. So is the threat of losing programming to cable.

“You’re talking about wanting to preserve major events on broadcast television,” Wertlieb said.