Streaming-only cable package coming soon

Get ready for cable TV without the cable. A streaming-only bundle of channels, likely with a coast-to-coast reach, may be offered to viewers for the first time in 2014, according to several TV-industry heavyweights.

While the speculation of such a service has been talked about and forecast for years, the chatter has gained added weight as some of the industry’s top executives admit its time has come. “I think there’s a very strong chance of that,” Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman said of a so-called over-the-top service rolling out in 2014. “After the struggles of Intel, this topic was dead in the water,” said entertainment analyst Richard Greenfield of BTIG, “After the last 24 hours, it sounds like it’s anything but.”