Is AT&T Snubbing TV Everywhere?

2:25 PM -- AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) officially announced their online video initiative, AT&T Entertainment today. It offers online access to content from a variety of entertainment sources, including ABC, CBS Interactive, and "dozens" more. It also includes access to NBC Universal content through an agreement with Hulu.

The elephant in the room here is AT&T's omission of anything TV Everywhere, the cable industry initiative to bring content online for paying video subscribers. Is it a conscious snub, where AT&T is deciding to go it alone? The early-on inclusion of Hulu is interesting as well. TV Everywhere is, in part, designed to counter the threat represented by Hulu and other sites like them. (Hey, maybe they even read my last post, and at the last minute, decided they can do this whole TV Everywhere thing better themselves!)

It's too early to draw firm conclusions. Everyone, AT&T included, is trying to figure out this multiplatform conundrum. Check the ashtray of anyone who tells you they've got it figured out. Thanks to AT&T, we have yet another wrinkle.

— Bernardin Arnason, Managing Partner, Pivot Group , and Chairman, TelcoTV 2009

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Interested in learning more on this topic? Then come to TelcoTV 2009, the telecom industry's premier event for the exploration of a comprehensive entertainment convergence strategy, to be staged in Orlando, Fla., November 10-12. For more information, or to register, click here.

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