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Cox Gives Up on Its 'Me Too' Streaming Video Service

Cox has given up on the company's streaming video service before it has even hit the broader market. Back in November we noted how Cox was the latest major ISP to decide to cook up its own streaming video platform, dubbed "MeTV." But Light Reading this week noticed the project's domains -- as well as its barely-launched social media promotion presence -- all suddenly disappeared. The company confirmed that the project is no more.

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"We'll continue to explore the digital entertainment space, but we've decided not to launch MeTV as originally intended," Cox said of the service.

Broadband providers have a long, long history of trying to launch streaming video services they believe can either directly compete with Netflix, or at the very least keep in-house customers from cutting the cord.

The problem is that mega-ISPs aren't particularly good at innovating, so the services just don't wind up being very good. That's often because these companies don't want to develop something too innovative, for fear of disrupting the traditional cable cash cow. As a result you often wind up with services that are neither here nor there.

Be it Comcast's failed Streampix initiative, AT&T's pointless experiments with Hulu clones, or Verzion and Redbox's joint venture, the landscape is littered with failed dreams on this front. Most people think Verizon's Go90 service, which "curates" YouTube-esque content in an attempt to appeal to Millennials and compete with YouTube, won't be too far behind them.

Cox may have realized the futility of the effort early, though the report notes that since Cox is now licensing Comcast's X1 set top tech, it may have just a redundant effort.

Most recommended from 13 comments



karlmarx
join:2006-09-18
Moscow, ID

5 recommendations

karlmarx

Member

Doomed to fail

Comcast/Verizon/TWC/any of them.
Rule #1: You have to offer something COMPELLING for people to want to use your service. Sorry comcast, your 'TV Anywhere' is going to fail, not because it's not a good idea, because it's cluttered up with commercials and ads instead of real content. If you want to COMPETE with netflix, why don't you look at what makes netflix successful. Sure, it's got a lot of content, but, I could argue, successfully, that what TRULY sets netflix apart from your service is very simple. NO COMMERCIALS. I want to be entertained, we can agree with that. However, I want to be entertained on MY schedule, not yours. The fat cats grudgingly give up that power. I want to be able to watch it anywhere, again the fat cats make it very hard, but in the end, they sort of allow it, and most importantly, I want to be entertained without wasting my time.
THAT'S where all the megacorps fail, epic fail. I DON'T WANT COMMERCIALS. PERIOD. I will NEVER sign up with CBS, or ESPN, or ANY channel that advertises their complete collection, if you force me to watch commercials. That's what is stopping ALL these 'clone' services from succeeding. Even if you let us watch it whenever we want, wherever we want, if you insist on making us watch commercials, it feels like you are raping us, without even offering dinner first, or offering to use lube. Why in the HELL would I PAY YOU to show me a commercial? That completely defeats the purpose of PAYING YOU. I have, and will continue to get my tv shows from alternate sources, (even though I DO pay for the channels), because I don't' want to waste MY TIME watching YOUR ADVERTISEMENTS. I watch netflix BECAUSE I am not forced to watch ads, and I am willing to pay them for that option. Offer me something WITHOUT COMMERCIALS and THEN I would consider giving you a few bucks a month. Until then, my time is more valuable than your commercials.