Cable Firm, Partners to Test TV on the Web

Cable-television provider Time Warner Cable has signed up at least seven major media companies in a test that will put television programs on the Web for paying subscribers. An official announcement could come as early as today. Time Warner Cable's test follows a similar effort started in July by Comcast as the US TV industry tries to address a major concern: how to keep people from canceling cable-TV subscriptions to watch free TV online. TV networks participating in Time Warner Cable's trial are expected to include General Electric's Syfy, Time Warner's TNT, Cablevision's AMC, and British Broadcasting Corp.'s BBC America. Other companies also expected to be involved in the trial include CBS, Discovery Communications and Viacom. Under the test, TV shows will be made available on the Web to a limited number of homes. To access the shows, people in those homes will have to sign into Web sites and fill out a brief profile to prove they are Time Warner Cable subscribers.