Time Warner challenges Netflix’s dominance

To fend off Netflix, Time Warner is taking a page from the streaming-video giant. And it’s turning to a 6-foot-8-inch former basketball player and war refugee to make it work.

Time Warner’s Turner division, home of CNN, TBS and TNT, is planning to tailor online delivery of its channels to individuals’ tastes, tracking preferences like Netflix does before suggesting what subscribers should watch. The company behind Time Warner’s effort is iStreamPlanet, in which it bought a majority stake two years ago for $148 million.

Founder Mio Babic gives Netflix credit for its technological prowess.

“What they do have is an incredible recommendation engine,” said Babic, 42, who started iStreamPlanet in 2000 after fleeing what was then Yugoslavia. “There is no doubt in my mind this is the future — over time every user will have their own version of CNN.”

Time Warner’s planning to deliver tailor-made channels within the next few years. The idea is that TNT, for instance, will stream NBA games to some app users, while others will get The Last Ship episodes instead. CNN, meanwhile, will present news based on personal preferences.

The open question is whether customization will be the trick that stops the subscriber bleed at Time Warner, which is being acquired by AT&T Inc. for $85.4 billion. Nearly all cable channels have been losing viewers with the rise of alternatives from the likes of Netflix, Amazon.com and YouTube.

IStreamPlanet right now powers the livestreams of Turner’s NBA playoffs and the March Madness tournament, as well as the apps for CNN, TNT and TBS. It provided the back-end for NBC’s online Olympics coverage and does the same for Hulu’s new live-TV service.