Fox Urges Web Viewers to Harass Their Cable Companies

Gigaom.com reports that “Fox has finally rolled out its authentication scheme for online videos on Fox.com and Hulu, requiring viewers to prove they’re paying TV subscribers for access. But since Dish Network is the only provider actually on board, the vast majority of viewers — whether they pay for cable or not — will have to wait eight days to view new shows.

“A few weeks ago we asked the hypothetical question: If you’re a cable provider, what do you do when Fox comes to re-negotiate its retrans deals, asking for more money now that it’s put its shows behind a pay wall?

“Do you pay up? Or do you risk disenfranchising your subscribers, who were once able to watch shows on Hulu the day after they’ve aired but can no longer do so because their cable provider isn’t a part of Fox’s exclusive next-day club?

“That question is no longer a hypothetical, as Fox has begun urging its viewers to contact their service providers and ask them to bring back next-day access to shows on Hulu and Fox.com. As pointed out by Multichannel News, Fox has created a new landing page for disenfranchised viewers at www.fox.com/watchnewepisodes/.”

There’s more at http://gigaom.com/video/fox-tv-everywhere-authentication/