Walt Disney and 21st Century Fox are in discussions for deals with Sony Entertainment for its new cloud-based Internet TV service, according to a report in Bloomberg News. Another report in The New York Times said Discovery Communications, Time Warner and Starz were also in discussions with Sony.
Earlier in the week, Viacom announced a deal that will make it the first big TV company to work with Sony, supplying the new service with 22 of its networks.
Recently, Dish Network said it would launch a similar Internet-based TV service; it has a deal with some Disney-ABC networks including ABC, ESPN and Disney Channel.
In addition, Verizon Communications recently bought up backbone TV Internet service technology from Intel Media -- after Intel said it would abandon plans in that business.
Verizon said it will launch its service by mid-2015, said Lowell McAdam, chief executive officer of Verizon, at a Goldman Sachs media conference on Thursday. The service could offer live TV/video as well as on-demand programming.
Some executives such as Jeff Bewkes, chairman/chief executive officer of Time Warner, believe these new TV services -- if priced well -- would do well to encourage millennials to sign up -- young consumers who typically look to avoid traditional pay TV services, such as those provided by cable, satellite and telco companies.
Inevitable and not good news for broadcasters. The old web adage applies: the web views middlemen as an error and routes around them.