Cablevision Utilizes iPad: Adds TV Lineup, Grows VOD

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By the end of the month, Cablevision will allow subscribers to view their full lineup on iPads, bringing mobile TV to the home. There are rights issues that prohibit universal access (for now), so the option is limited to inside the home, although it will allow a person to keep watching "Monday Night Football" while going to the fridge.

Within the TV space, the iPad is offering a slew of new opportunities, but Cablevision COO Tom Rutledge noted the potential to help grow video-on-demand. He said there has been a lack of easy access to a menu of available programming. It can be difficult to know what A&E or TNT are offering, so iPads can help with an improved programming guide.

"It's very difficult using a television navigation device to actually look through reams of content," Rutledge told investors. "But the iPad -- and tablets in general -- are sort of changing the whole product definition, in a way that's very favorable to Cablevision and cable companies in general. It allows you to take what's been a difficult product to navigate and make it a rich product."

While free VOD is one thing, easier navigation could lead to greater use of pay-per-view, a revenue generator for operators.

Separately, Rutledge said Cablevision is debuting a product allowing people to access the Internet, including video, on the TV screen -- "a video relay product," tabbed Optimum Link.

"We embrace whatever over-the-top television there is," he said. "We're going to make it easy. We're going to make it comfortable for our customers and not require them to buy any hardware."

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