CenturyLink's (NYSE: CTL) debut of its Championship Multiview feature illustrates the idea that it will need to add new differentiators to make its Prism IPTV service stand out from the cable companies it battles in its respective markets.
Coming on the heels of March Madness college basketball season, Prism TV's Championship Multiview feature will allow users in its Nevada IPTV market to watch games on all four major TV networks (CBS, TBS, TNT and TruTV) on one screen.
Here's how it works: In one viewing session, a customer will see one primary game on one half of the TV screen, while three alternative games will be featured on the other half.
Available on Prism channel 600 for users in its Las Vegas, Nev. market, the Championship Multiview service will be offered through the end of the men's college basketball tournament, and then will be relaunched later this year with additional advanced highlights. CenturyLink likely wants to gauge Prism user's interest in the new service before taking it into its existing IPTV footprint in Florida, Missouri, North Carolina and Wisconsin.
While CenturyLink has been a bit more conservative than other ILECs like AT&T in rolling out IPTV, the Prism IPTV product is competitively priced with plans that start as low as $32.99 a month with 120 digital channels. Likewise, CenturyLink offers a triple play bundle for $90 and a dual play package of IPTV and DSL data for $65 a month.
For more:
- see the release
- here's FierceCable's take
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