Since telling you about Comcast and Time Warner's plans to get into the online streaming video game, we've gotten some more details on just how the cable companies envision things working. Time Warner's CEO recently unveiled his plans for "TV Everywhere", which now looks far more all-encompassing than our first glance at plans for the service seemed.

The proposed TV Everywhere system would unite cable companies, satellite providers, and even telephone companies like Verizon that offer TV through their broadband packages. The united front helps these companies negotiate streaming agreements with content providers, rather than each working out separate arrangements that might have led to customers with different cable providers getting different levels of access. Under the plan, if you pay for one of these services, you'd be able to directly connect to the a cable station's site and log in with details from your cable (or satellite, or telephone) company. Once the site verifies you as a paying cable customer, you'd get access to the company's streaming archives.

This sort of approach sounds a lot more attractive than the every-man-for-himself strategy the companies originally looked to be taking. It's especially important for satellite customers, as the satellite companies don't have the in-place broadband content delivery systems that cable and telephone companies do. Right now Time Warner's got a test run going in some markets, letting its cable customers access HBO shows online. Presumably, there's some package-checking going on when you log in to a channel's site, making sure it's part of the channel tier you're paying for. There could also be web-only accounts to generate revenue from interested users who might not already have cable or satellite on their TV.

There are still a lot of details to work out, like how many users can access these streams per household. Would you be able to access shows from work while someone at home is also online? What about when you're on vacation? Also, it could be difficult to get all the needed companies lined up and playing nicely with each other, but considering this seems like an all-or-nothing approach and a smart move for the companies involved, we're hoping they work something out.

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