Cable iPad app roundup: Cablevision counts 50k downloads, Time Warner adds channels, Comcast increases VOD
For whatever reason, cable companies have fallen in love with extending their offerings to Apple's tablet, and as a result we have a glut of news centered around the devices from Cablevision, Time Warner Cable and Comcast. First up is Cablevision's Optimum app, despite upsetting a few sports networks it has passed 50,000 downloads from the App Store and as the press release (included after the break) notes, has been the #1 app in the Entertainment category since Sunday. The TWCable TV app also has good news, it's adding seven channels including Oxygen and Lifetime. While Comcast's Xfinity TV doesn't stream live TV like the other two here, it does have access to video on-demand and the company just announced it's added more viewing options bringing the total up to 4,500 hours of video available, up from 3,000 two months ago. More info is available at the source links, we're just wondering how many of you are actually dialing up any of this content on your iPads?
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CABLEVISION'S OPTIMUM APP FOR iPAD SURPASSES 50,000 CONSUMER DOWNLOADS
App That Delivers Cable TV To The iPad In The Home Has Been #1 In The Entertainment Category In Apple's App Store Since Sunday And Is Currently The 10th Most Popular Free App For iPad Overall
BETHPAGE, NY, April 6, 2011 – Cablevision Systems Corp. (NYSE: CVC) today announced that its Optimum App for iPad has surpassed 50,000 consumer downloads since being added to the Apple App Store on Saturday. The app turns the iPad into another television in the home, delivering approximately 300 live channels, thousands of titles of video on demand (VOD), advanced searchable guide information and DVR management. Available at no additional cost to Cablevision customers, the Optimum App for iPad has been the most popular app in the Apple App Store's Entertainment category since Sunday, and is currently the 10th most popular free iPad app overall.
"We are very pleased by the strong and positive consumer reaction to the Optimum App for iPad, reflected by download activity, ratings and reviews," said Gary Schanman, Cablevision's senior vice president of video product management. "Our objective was nothing short of delivering the full cable television experience to our customers on an iPad in the home, and we are looking forward to continuing to enhance and refine the app, which has already become very popular with our cable television customers."
The Optimum App for iPad gives Cablevision customers the additional flexibility and convenience of watching television throughout the home, in places where set-top boxes might not be ideal or even practical, like the kitchen, bathroom or work room. Simply put, it is cable television, securely delivered to a tablet device operating as a television in the home, and consistent with all of Cablevision's existing agreements with programmers. Customers do not need to have Internet access to use the Optimum App for iPad.
