Time Warner names chief of TV Everywhere online video service

Time Warner has announced that Andrew Heller will lead its TV Everywhere initiative, which aims to bring cable network content online for cable subscribers. Heller, who has been in the content distribution business for 25 years with companies such as Turner, HBO and Time Warner Cable, is now vice chairman of Turner Broadcasting System and will be coordinator for the project.

Heller has already been working on the project for several months and will announce details of the first test of the program shortly, according to AdAge. Heller told AdAge his biggest responsibility is connecting networks, distributors and advertisers to reach a consensus on TV Everywhere's model and practices.

"It's important we do this as quickly as we can because there is such disparate treatment of access to commercially produced long-form content as an industry that it's confusing to the consumer, and that's unhealthy," Heller told AdAge. "The sooner we can find technical solutions to make this work and reward our customers for their loyalty, the easier it will be for consumers to understand what we're doing and tell us what else they'd like to see."

Heller said end-users want a new model for consuming cable content, and that they will ultimately decide what works best by voting with their wallets. It will be interesting to see how Heller's largely traditional media background affects his process in developing TV Everywhere, and if he "gets" online.

For more:
- see the AdAge article here 

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