Time Warner Cable to Stream Yankees Games In-Market

Joins Cablevision, Verizon in offering online product for 2010 season

By Alex Weprin -- Broadcasting & Cable, 3/30/2010 11:23:08 AM

Time Warner Cable will stream New York Yankees games in-market for the first time, offering its customers the Yankees On YES Live Game Streaming package. Cablevision and Verizon Fios, which tested out the live streaming service when it launched last year, will also offer the package.  With the three MSOs, the service will be available to approximately six million eligible subscribers in the New York metropolitan area, a YES Network spokesperson says.

The package will cost $69.95 for the entire season or $19.95 for any 30-day period during the season. Users can sign up through Yankees.com, YESNetwork.com or the websites for their cable or telco provider. The service, powered by Major League Baseball Advanced Media, will offer the games in true high definition.

YES plans to promote the service heavily on its Yankees telecasts and other programs, and is also featuring prominent house ads on its website.

The service launched on Cablevision in July 2009, and on Verizon in September, with little fanfare and in the middle of the baseball season. For 2010 the companies are banking on pre-season sales following a Yankees World Series win, along with the major presence of Time Warner Cable, to boost subscriptions.

As sports look to stream more events live online, authentication is viewed as a way to let more viewers watch their favorite team, while still protecting the traditional revenue streams.

"With proper authentication they all approach it the way they should, as an added feature of buying cable," MLBAM CEO Bob Bowman told B&C a few weeks ago.

In 2009, the only teams doing in-market streaming were the Yankees and San Diego Padres.  For 2010, Bowman says more teams will be participating, as well as more MSOs. The addition of Time Warner Cable to the YES in-market streaming lineup is a major step in that direction.