Time Warner Cable To Buy Slingbox For Subs

In an effort to attract new customers to its speedy but spendy Wideband Internet offering, Time Warner Cable has started a promotion that will offer a rebate for a Slingbox set-top box to subscribers of the new service. The Slingbox allows users to watch their home TV from anywhere and retails for $299.99. The New York Times reports that the rebate will begin in September. This is the latest attempt by a cable company to offer a service that allows its customers to watch TV somewhere other than on their sets: Time Warner Cable and Cablevision have both introduced iPad apps that allow subs to watch cable channels on the devices, and both have received challenges from content providers (like Viacom, which has gone to the courts against both) who say the practice violates existing agreements. Even though the Slingbox offer is for a small subscriber base, it likely also will get attention from distributors who want to get paid for every platform on which their programming appears.