• Reuters, Wednesday, March 7, 2012 12:35 PM

Netflix is reportedly in discussions with top cable companies about adding its online movie streaming service to their cable offerings. “In what would ratchet up its competition with HBO, the talks could lead to Netflix becoming available as another on-demand option for cable subscribers through their set-top boxes,” reports Reuters, citing sources.

The cable companies could feasibly offer Netflix as an additional service option to their subscribers, and simply bill them accordingly. “Any partnership would be a major about-face for many in the traditional cable industry who had initially seen Netflix as a threat to their $100 billion-a-year business,” Reuters remarks. Indeed, while Netflix hasn’t so far specialized in new TV shows and movies – i.e., Cable’s bread and butter -- its Web streaming service has still been perceived to be threat by some cable operators and networks.

Still, “even if a deal is reached in the near-term, actually receiving Netflix through a cable provider could still take months to launch,” according to Reuters. Netflix would first need to rework its licensing deals with programmers, since most existing contracts don’t allow Netflix to deliver their shows on a cable box.

Read the whole story at Reuters »