NBC, Affils Join Rush To TV Everywhere

NBC is joining ABC and Fox in taking the TV everywhere approach to streaming the broadcast signals of its O&Os and affiliates so that they can be received by cable subscribers on smartphones and tablets.

NBC’s formal announcement that it was getting in the game came yesterday after an affiliates meeting in New York. NBC had broached the subject at the affiliate board meeting in April.

“We are aiming for a mid-2014 launch of a TV everywhere system that emphasizes localism and that will be in partnership with the affiliates,” NBC Broadcasting Chairman Ted Harbert told TVNewsCheck.

The initiative guarantees that consumers will be able to get their local broadcast signals on their mobile devices, he said, adding that the service will “be in the same ballpark” as that announced by ABC on Sunday night. “We have lot of details to work out, but the idea is technically the same.”

Added Jordan Wertlieb, president of Hearst Television and chairman of the NBC affiliate board: “I think the headline today is NBC’s commitment to do this in partnership with the local affiliates.”

TV everywhere services are offered through cable operators. Broadcasters grant operators the right to stream their signals and they in turn make the signals available to “authenticated” subscribers who download the appropriate app.

Broadcasters will receive compensation from operators for the streaming just as they do from operators for cable distribution under retransmission consent. Affiliates will presumably share what they get from the operators with their networks.

Fox told affiliates of its intention to pursue TV everywhere in partnership with them during a meeting at April’s NAB Show.

Left out of the race to TV everywhere is CBS. It is working with technology provider Syncbak on a different strategy for streaming to mobile devices, but has not yet shared any details.