Is it crazy for a new startup to enter the competitive space dominated by Netflix and cable companies?
NimbleTV doesn’t think so. The company plans to make TV something you can truly watch from anywhere, in a seamless and user-friendly package.
Details of the startup are actually a little bit sketchy. When asked by the New York Times how it gets its content, NimbleTV wouldn’t say who its content partners are.
Instead, it said that it can offer programming without a lot of permission. Cryptic. Nevertheless, the company thinks it has a winning solution.
It will work like this – for a monthly fee, you’ll be able to watch live TV on a variety of devices, provided they’re connected to the Internet.
In addition, you’ll have access to a cloud-powered DVR service that offers “thousands of hours” of recorded programming.
Among the networks shown on its website are ABC, CNBC, Bravo, Comedy Central, and CNN. We can’t help but draw a comparison to Aereo, a company that essentially took a TV antenna reception and connected it online for people to stream. That company was sued by every major broadcaster, though it contends that it’s doing nothing illegal.
But companies like Aereo and NimbleTV are only doing what the average consumer wants. Consumers are paying more than ever for cable TV service but they’re also on the go and constantly on other devices. It only makes sense that the content they’re already paying for should meet the current technology.
And in fact, for a company like Time Warner Cable to stream live TV over the Internet to its subscribers is probably something that could be done in a heartbeat. It’s the politics of stuffy media companies that is preventing it. NimbleTV’s beta launches in New York City in six days. We’ll see if it shakes things up.
