Cablevision to Mix with Internet for Customers' Sake

Cablevision Systems Corp. will provide subscribers with their own channel where they can watch online content from their personal computer on their TV without any cords or additional fuss.

Cablevision Systems Corporation is an American cable television company. It is the 5th largest cable provider in the USA, with most customers residing in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and parts of Pennsylvania.

The company plans to start a trial service in June.

Named PC to TV Media Relay, Cablevision said the technology will allow the customer to transfer anything available for display on their PC for viewing on a dedicated TV channel.

The customer will need to download software to their computer to enable the service. It will not work with Apple computers.

Cablevision will pitch the service to customers as enabling online viewing with only the touch of a button.

Pricing has yet to be decided, the company said. It is still working on software for Apple users and plans to extend the service to handheld devices connected to in-home wireless networks.

Cable companies are making various moves to avoid being replaced by video sites such as Hulu or Google Inc's YouTube.

Comcast Corp launched a service called On Demand Online last year that offers cable programing on its own website to subscribers to both its digital cable and Internet service.

Bernstein Research analyst Craig Moffett argued recently that cable investors should place more value on the broadband networks rather than the their video services cable provides.

The cable sector will change over the next five to 10 years, he predicted.

Reuters has contributed to the report.