Business World

Time Warner Cable Inc has signed up at least seven large media companies for a test that will offer television programs on the Internet to paying subscribers, the Wall Street Journal said on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Networks participating in the trial are expected to include General Electric Co’s Syfy, Time Warner Inc’s TNT, Cablevision Systems Corp’s AMC and the British Broadcasting Corp’s BBC America, the people told the paper.

Other companies that could be involved in the trial are CBS Corp, Discovery Communications Inc and Viacom Inc, the paper cited some of the people as saying.

The test involves TV shows being made available on the Web to a limited number of homes, the paper said.

In July, Comcast Corp signed up CBS along with 17 more cable networks to participate in the cable company’s trial to make more television shows available to its subscribers on the Web.

Time Warner Cable could not immediately be reached for comment by Reuters outside regular U.S. business hours.

(Reporting by S. John Tilak in Bangalore; Editing by David Holmes)

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