Get ready for cable TV without the cable.
A streaming-only bundle of channels, likely with a coast-to-coast reach, may be offered to viewers for the first time in 2014, according to several TV-industry heavyweights.
While the speculation of such a service has been talked about and forecast for years, the chatter this week has gained added weight as some of the industry’s top executives admit its time has come.
“I think there’s a very strong chance of that,” Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman said of a so-called over-the-top service rolling out next year.
“After the struggles of Intel, this topic was dead in the water,” said entertainment analyst Richard Greenfield of BTIG, “After the last 24 hours, it sounds like it’s anything but.”
Comments by Dauman and others this week at the UBS media conference reignited a debate about who will be first out of the gate and what impact it will have.
Verizon, which already has national mobile rights to primetime NFL games, is seen as the most likely to be the first to move in the over-the-top space, according to conversations with several TV industry sources.
The phone giant has been circling what’s left of Intel’s virtual video platform, OnCue, these sources said.
Intel is selling the service for $500 million, according to Bloomberg, after giving up its development because of the financial risk involved.
“Given the national footprint of Verizon, there would be some logic to it being them,” Greenfield told The Post. “The programmers are ready to sign deals.”
Verizon is having talks via its FiOS team, and its approaches have been welcomed because it can market a service nationally without running into the same regulatory concerns as traditional players, one major programmer told The Post.
Speculation has also been centered on a Charlie Ergen-backed Dish-branded over-the-top programming play, and on a Comcast Xfinity streaming service, as being the most likely to provide a package of cable-like programming via the Web.
Sony’s PlayStation device, Microsoft’s Xbox and Apple are less likely to lead the parade, sources said.
As soon as the expected nontraditional distributor introduces an over-the-top service, expect all the cable companies and telcos to jump in, a source familiar with discussions said.
That’s great news for consumers who are sick of TV blackouts borne of carriage disputes. Switching providers will be much simpler, one person explained.
The arrival of a virtual provider is also a double-edged sword for the program sellers. While it will create huge competition for national rights, there’s the risk that the least-expensive streaming package wins.
To be sure, not all TV insiders see the dawn of an over-the-top streaming service as being so soon at hand. Some see it not starting until 2015.
Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo said: “I think [over-the-top] is coming, and we would certainly be happy to license our content. They’d have to buy the package of services we sell.”
Neither Verizon nor any other possible over-the-top entrant returned calls for comment.