Viacom to Launch TV-Viewing Apps by Year’s End

Imagine having Jon Stewart in your hands.
Hoping to make its own mark in the annals of the “TV Everywhere” movement, Viacom plans to unveil TV apps for tablets.
“We are rolling out apps in partnership with several of our distributors,” said CEO Philippe Dauman during an earnings call yesterday.
Partners include pay-TV operators like Time Warner Cable, with whom it will work to produce tablet apps that include its library of programming. It hasn’t yet revealed what channels will be available, but the programmer owns popular cable networks Nickelodeon, MTV and Comedy Central. It notably also has distribution agreements with online streaming providers like Netflix.
BusinessWeek points out this marks Viacom’s first major step into the “TV Everywhere” phenomenon, which enables viewers to watch programming they’ve paid for on multiple devices. Time Warner was among the first programmers to leverage the strategy with its HBO Go app.






