Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Time Warner Cable is tempting cord-cutters with Roku 3-delivered Internet TV plans

time warner cable roku 3 beta service feature
Streaming is often seen as a threat to cable providers, but Time Warner Cable has decided to see how the two services can help one another. As part of a new Roku TV beta service that launched Tuesday, Time Warner Cable is offering Internet-only customers in New York City access to its programming content over a Roku 3 set-top box, reports Ars Technica.

There are currently three plans from which beta testers can choose: Starter TV, which costs $10 per month and includes basic channels such as ABC, NBC, Fox, and over 20 more; Starter TV plus Showtime and Starz for $20 per month; and a bundle of 70+ channels, including Showtime and Starz, for $50 per month. Users do have to sign a 12-month contract, but Time Warner Cable will provide the Roku 3 device that cuts out the need for a cable box.

Those who sign up will be able to download the TWC app, and then start streaming with their Roku 3 device. It sounds like it has the potential to be both cheaper and more convenient than subscribing to cable and dealing with the installation. At the same time, however, the service lacks the flexibility that many cord cutters enjoy; not only does it sound like there’s no way to customize the channels included with your bundle, the system lacks a way to easily time-shift. If you miss your show, well, you’re out of luck.

Time Warner Cable isn’t the only provider testing out new ways to deliver its services. Comcast announced plans for Stream in July, an Internet streaming service intended to offer 12 channels, while Cox announced a new streaming service called Flare MeTV on Monday, which will offer mainly content curated from across the web, as well as some licensed TV content. We’ll have to add this to the list of ongoing experiments and wait to see how it plays out.

Roku 3 Available from: Amazon | Best Buy

Editors' Recommendations

Stephanie Topacio Long
Stephanie Topacio Long is a writer and editor whose writing interests range from business to books. She also contributes to…
Hisense sets its sights on cord cutters with the affordable R6 4K Roku TV
R6R6 4K Hisense Roku TV

The merging of 4K TVs and the Roku operating system might be one of the best combinations in TV land -- especially for cord cutters. With the addition of the R6 4K Hisense Roku TV to its 2017 lineup, it's evident that Hisense thinks so, too.

The R6 4K Hisense Roku TV is loaded with plenty of features, including high dynamic range (HDR), which enhances contrast and color shading for more accurate detail, as well as direct-LED backlighting, designed to create less light bleed and halo effects than edge-lit TVs, for better and richer black levels. Like others in its class, the TV also features a UHD upscaler designed to artificially raise the resolution of lower definition video content, and the TV also supports DTS Studio Sound.

Read more
Snap Inc. enters one of biggest TV deals yet with Time Warner shows
Snapchat

Snapchat may have rebranded as a camera company, but Snap Inc. recently announced one of the largest TV deals for the company yet. On Monday, Snap Inc. announced an agreement with Time Warner to develop original shows for the Snapchat platform.

Snapchat users can expect to see three shows a day before the end of 2017, according to Time Warner. Up to 10 original shows are expected to stem from the agreement. Time Warner is the parent company for multiple TV channels, including HBO, Turner and Warner Bros. Entertainment. Time Warner will advertise on the platform, focusing on millennials as young adults trend toward mobile and streaming entertainment over traditional paid cable.

Read more
Netflix subscriptions have surpassed cable TV in the U.S.
best tv shows 2016 of orange is the new black

For years, streaming services like Netflix and Hulu have been eating away at the cable television industry, as cord-cutters realize they can get much of the same content (and more) in affordable, convenient ways. Now that we all have screens in our pockets (and in our backpacks, briefcases, and purses), watching live TV has become a burden, with lots of our favorite shows available for instantaneous viewing.

On Wednesday, an article published by Statista reinforces the notion that Netflix could singlehandedly spell doom for the archaic cable paradigm. According to the chart, the DVD delivery service-turned-streaming heavyweight now boasts 50.9 million subscribers -- more than the 48.6 million customers currently subscribed to major cable TV companies, per Leichtman Research Group (these "major cable TV companies" include Comcast, Charter, Altice, Mediacom, CableOne, and Cox, together making up 95 percent of the cable market).

Read more