ABC's Authentication Strategy, Roku Plays Along

Yesterday Fox followed through on its promise to limit access to its shows online to non-paying customers. Now it seems ABC is following suit, as people close to the company are saying plans to restrict next-day access to shows on ABC.com and Hulu is right around the corner.

Disney has yet to formally announce plans for its version of an authentication policy for ABC broadcast shows. But when asked about his digital video and internet strategy during the company's earnings call last week, Disney CEO Bob Iger admitted that he was OK with non-traditional distribution as long as it didn't interfere with established cable relationships.

On keeping the peace with cable, the exec said the relationship Disney has with distributors is "very valuable... and it's one that we aim to respect by both protecting what we currently have and figuring out ways that we can expand on it." However, later in the call Iger said the company would "push the window back or make access to programming more difficult... except if customers are authenticated as a subscriber."

Trumpeting its authentication model, Roku launched EPIX, the OTT video service's first authenticated TV channel featuring movies from Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM plus some original content and music. According to the company's blog, EPIX provides a new option for users who subscribe to pay-TV - that already offers EPIX - "increasing the value they get from EPIX TV subscription and their Roku player."

The company says an EPIX TV subscription is available to Charter, Cox, DISH, Mediacom, Suddenlink and Verizon FiOS subs. "If you use one of these providers but don’t subscribe to EPIX or you use a provider that doesn’t currently offer EPIX, you can get a 14-day free trial," Roku says. So what happens when the trial is up?  Check out what people are saying here... •

Cable News War Goes Live

Earlier this week, Fox Business Network made its own news by buying commercial time on Time Warner Cable to run on CNBC. In the ad, FBN jabs its cable news competition for CNBC airing planned reruns during the country's financial meltdown after the S&P downgraded the United States' credit rating.

During the economic tsunami, FBN went live featuring a specialized financial team to cover the news. On FBN's ad, the business net said it's competition, namely CNBC, had "gone fishin'."

Of course, CNBC would likely be unwilling to sell ad spots to its younger rival. But Time Warner Cable did. So when the spots aired to millions of subscribers, TWC execs were... unhappy. Reports say the spots were set to run throughout the entire week, but come Monday morning the "Gone Fishin'" ads were sunk.

TWC says the ads were pulled due to "inappropriate content." When pressed for info on said inappropriate content, the company had "no comment." •

Etc: Dingell Blasts FCC - Mobile Sports Coverage - Best Buy Doesn't Want HP Tablets

Gov't: Congressman John Dingell (D-MI) sent an angry letter to FCC Chair Julius Genachowski for failing to provide an acceptable response to the congressman's June 17 inquiry into the FCC's voluntary spectrum auctions. Dingell said he is "deeply disturbed that an agency created by Congress so often and so willfully fails in its duty" to repspond to Congressional requests for information. --- The FCC said this week that complaints from cable and satellite subs increased by 9% during Q410 from the previous period.

Rumor Mill: Reuters says Apple is considering a $1B investment in a Sharp-owned LCD plant that produces panels for iPhones and iPads - a move seen as diversifying company production in light of its ongoing legal issues with Samsung. --- Nokia Siemens Networks is reportedly seeking $1.4B in credit from parent companies to restructure, so says an insider cited in a German press report.

In Court: Federal Judge Ruben Castillo rescheduled the hearing date (Aug. 29) on Comcast's
request for a prelimiary injuction forcing DIRECTV to stop airing its NFL Sunday Ticket ads that the cable company says are false and misleading. --- DealB%k reports the guy accused of insider trading by looking at a Disney employees emails fought back yesterday saying the SEC was "bumbling" and the "financial regulatory equivalent" of the Dept. of Motor Vehicles.

M&A: Amdocs completed its purchase of Bridgewater Systems' outstanding common shares for CAD $211M (US $215M). --- Verizon said Google's $12.5M bid for Motorola Mobility was a positive development with regard to the current turbulence w/n the smartphone patent dispute climate.

Programming: ESPN 3D will air 22 games of the Little League World Series beginning today. --- The Sony/Disconver/Imax joint 3D network, 3net, is teaming up with Red Bull Media House North America for 3D content. The net will air the 2010 Red Bull Rampage (think: mountain biking kamakazee downhill) this Sunday and will premiere 3D shorts from the 2010 US Open of Surfing.

Mobile: DIRECTV is making its Sunday NFL Ticket available through Motorola's XOOM and Samsung Galaxy tablets, Motorola's Android smartphones, Apple's iDevices, Blackberry devices w/ 3G or wifi and other Droid-banded phones. The company said it is also partnering with NFL.com to launch a mobile fantasy football app. More info can be found here. --- MetroPCS is teaming up with Rhapsody to deliver a mobile "music for all" to Metro's Android customers.

Online: Facebook is going to stream a live FA Cup match between non-premiere league football clubs Ascot United and Wembley FC on Friday.

Research: Infonetics says WiMAX technology reached a total of 20M subs at the end of 2Q11 and is on track to hit the firm's forecast of 25M by year's end. --- In-Stat says Bluetooth-enabled device shipments will exceed 2B in 2013.

4G: Verizon says with the expansion of its 4G LTE network this week, its next generation net will be available to more than 160M Americans. Click here for a complete list of areas served. --- AT&T said its first LTE 4G devices will be available next week depsite its 4G network not being up and running til late summer in 5 initial cities of Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.

Retail: Inside sources told AllThingsD that Best Buy wants HP to take back its TouchPads because no one is buying them and they're taking up too much shelf space. The retail giant is also allegedly refusing to pay for all the TouchPads it has, while HP is urging BB to give the devices more time. Get specifics here.

Up, Down and Over There: The Hollywood Reporter says Hong Kong IPTV provider nowTV added ESPNEWS (in English) and ESPNHD to its lineup. The channels are being run by ESPN Star Sports, a partnership between the ABC-Capital Cities and News Corp.'s satellite sports affiliate, Star Sports. --- Italian antitrust authorities extended an investigation into SkyItalia's purchase of UEFA Champions League TV rights through 2015, accusing the satcater of abusing a dominant position in the market. --- Rogers launched a smart home-monitoring service to hi-speed internet subs in Ontario.

Folks: Motorola Mobility announced the departure of William Hambrecht from the company's board of directors. --- Harpo Studios named Chance Patterson SVP of corporate affairs. --- Mary Ellen Iwata, VP of programming at Scripps International is headed to The Weather Channel as VP of original content. --- Nice interview with BET CEO Debra Lee in the 08/22 edition of Forbes in which she says, "We respect, reflect and elevate our audience. They want to be entertained, but they also want to be inspired." •