• Marketwatch, Friday, April 3, 2009 11:31 AM

Viacom CEO Phillipe Dauman said there's unlikely to be any significant backlash over "TV Everywhere," Time Warner's plan to extend cable TV and satellite subscriptions to Internet-enabled devices at no extra charge to consumers. "People are used to paying for video subscriptions," Dauman said at an industry conference. "They're used to paying for broadband service, so there's nothing new there."

Dauman added that it's important that the existing network pay structure be preserved. Cable networks make money in two ways: ad sales, and fees distributors like Time Warner Cable and DirecTV pay to carry their programming. Distributors, for their part, make most of their money through subscription fees, and some ad sales.

As more and more networks put their content online, there is a growing concern that people will abandon their video service. Dauman, head of one of the world's biggest content providers, said he supports TV Everywhere as long as it's easy for consumers to use. Asked if viewers would see more or fewer ads on the Web with TV Everywhere, Dauman said "there will be lots of testing of different models, and an evolution will take place."

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