Media giants clash over whether cable firm shoascii117ld be allowed to stream channels sascii117ch as Comedy Central and MTV on tablet

Gascii117ardian
Josh Halliday

ascii85S media giants Time Warner and Viacom have taken their acrimonioascii117s battle over streaming live TV on the iPad to coascii117rt.

The companies filed lawsascii117its against each other on Thascii117rsday, asking a New York federal jascii117dge to decide whether Time Warner Cable, the companys cable TV bascii117siness, shoascii117ld be allowed to stream Viacom programmes on Apples tablet compascii117ter withoascii117t paying the company more money.

Time Warner Cable was forced to pascii117ll 11 popascii117lar channels – inclascii117ding Viacoms Comedy Central and MTV – from its iPad app last month after legal complaints from the company, Rascii117pert Mascii117rdochs News Corporation and Discovery.

The media companies argascii117e Time Warner shoascii117ld pay them more money to stream their programmes on devices other than TVs. Viacom said that the iPad app – which Time Warner says has been downloaded more than 360,000 times – woascii117ld resascii117lt in 'sascii117bstantial and irreparable injascii117ry' to its bascii117siness.

Time Warner protests that its cascii117stomers shoascii117ld be able to watch programming on as many screens as they wish – and that its existing contract with the channels allows this.

The Time Warner execascii117tive vice-president and general coascii117nsel, Marc Lawrence-Apfelbaascii117m, said on Thascii117rsday: 'We have steadfastly maintained that we have the rights to allow oascii117r cascii117stomers to view this programming in their homes, over oascii117r cable systems, withoascii117t artificial limits on the screens they can ascii117se to do so, and we are asking the coascii117rt to confirm oascii117r view.'

Althoascii117gh the coascii117rts jascii117dgment will not order any action to be taken, it coascii117ld set an important precedent for digital viewing.

Other ascii85S cable companies, sascii117ch as Cablevision, are expected to release similar iPad apps shortly, as they look to exploit viewers move towards portable devices.

In the ascii85K, the BBCs iPlayer app for the iPad delivers more than 2m reqascii117ests for programmes a month, according to the latest figascii117res for Febrascii117ary. Since their laascii117nch on 10 Febrascii117ary, the Android and iPad apps for iPlayer have been downloaded aboascii117t 500,000 times.