Verizon Ready For Competition, Cuts Deal With Turner

Verizon and Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. (TBS, Inc) announced a programming-distribution agreement that allows Verizon to carry the Turner stations on their upcoming television service Fios TV. The channels include TBS, TNT (HD), CNN, Headline News, Cartoon Network, Turner Classic Movies (TCM), CNN International, CNN en Español and Boomerang.

"We are pleased to partner with Verizon to further expand their Fios programming lineup and enhance their customers’ viewing experience with the addition of the Turner Broadcasting’s extensive collection of top-rated content,” said Coleman Breland, executive vice president, sales and marketing, Turner Network Sales.

Scheduled to debut late this year, Verizon Fios TV will offer hundreds of digital video channels to homes throughout the US via Verizon's fiber-to-the-premises (FTTP) broadband network. Verizon's FTTP network is already in half the states where it offers landline communications service, and will undoubtedly be a major competitor to cable and satellite.