
The new Web services, which could launch as soon as the Q3 2009, should help attract new subscribers, says the cable companies although it will have to compete with free ad-supported sites such as Hulu and TV.com.
Sources familiar to the situation added that the "proposed Web services would likely be in a streaming format with ads, accessible in and out of the home, and without any additional charge to cable-TV subscribers."
Brian Roberts, the chief executive of Comcast added, "online video is our friend, not our enemy."