• by Wayne Friedman , September 20, 2005

Scripps Television has inked a deal with Broadstream Communications that will make content from HGTV, Food Network, DIY Network, Fine Living, and Great American Country available on Internet Protocol TV.

"We want our product in as many homes as possible," said John Baird, executive vp of marketing and distribution for Scripps Networks, which owns 10 broadcast TV stations, as well as 21 daily newspapers.

Broadstream's Internet Protocol television efforts enables the delivery of programming over plain, ordinary telephone lines--chiefly thousands of small telephone systems in the United States.

"They can then compete with satellite and cable providers," said Scripps' Baird. Broadstream has already made over 200 video and audio deals with nearly every major broadcaster and programmer in the country.

Internet Protocol TV is expected to grow in coming years; already communications companies, like SBC and Verizon, are using Internet Protocol TV to offer channels and personalized content.

While he wouldn't go into details of the deal, Baird said the Broadstream deal was similar to a cable distribution arrangement. Usually such arrangements involve cable operators getting two minutes an hour of local advertising time.

Last week, Broadstream announced deals with Hallmark Channel, Hallmark Movie Channel, OLN, The Tennis Channel, Bloomberg Television, and The Golf Channel.