• by Wayne Friedman , Staff Writer, December 17, 2014

Authentication. Do you need it? Do you hate it? More importantly, will the word be passe in TV’s future lexicon?

Though usage of TV Everywhere content continues to grow -- up 34% in the third quarter of 2014 compared to the similar period in 2013, according to Adobe – some executives still worry that being “authenticated” can be a problem.

Even Adobe’s analysis notes that authentication remains an issue with consumers. After all, who wants to log into a media platform? We don’t do that while watching traditional TV screens.

If you don’t believe that “authentication” will soon be a memory, just look at  CBS, HBO, Dish and Verizon. They are already looking to start stand-alone, cloud-based services that don’t need authentication from the bigger pay TV providers.

Going forward, authentication doesn’t sound like something any consumer would want to be associated with. Another wrinkle to add to the mix: Pricing for the new cloud-based efforts isn’t set in stone, and will be a determining factor.

Some executives – like Jeff Bewkes, the chairman/chief executive officer of Time Warner who had pushed TV Everywhere efforts -- are now pushing beyond authentication.

While Bewkes has said that HBO Go is “the gold standard” of authenticated TV offerings, he also says bigger fish will come from traditional business expansion via pay TV providers seeking those 60 million consumers that don’t currently have HBO.

Best to be nimble and have many hands in different TV media platforms. No business authentication needed here.