Apple TV service coming?

[7/14/15] Apple might not be working on a standalone TV set of its own, but the company is still interested in changing the way you watch TV. And in the process, it might offer its customers one more reason to cut the cord – or at least dump their current cable provider and enjoy live TV streamed over the Internet to an affordable Apple TV box.

According to information obtained by The New York Post from various sources familiar with Apple’s negotiations with networks, Apple is set to launch the unnamed live streaming TV service this fall alongside a refreshed Apple TV box. The service has reportedly not yet been priced, and will cost anywhere from $10 to $40 per month.

“The platform is ready and it rocks,” a source told the paper.

Apple has apparently convinced networks to give it streaming rights for their affiliates’ feeds and negotiate deals on the company’s behalf, so it didn’t have to talk directly to affiliates.

Apple’s cable-killing TV app will offer customers access to a wide range of channels, including ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, Disney, Discovery and ESPN, according to the news site.

Disney or CBS will be the first to ink a deal with Apple, a source said. But certain issues remain, such as Apple’s insistence on getting 30% of the subscription fee as long as the subscriber signs up through the App Store. The Post also says that negotiations are further complicated by the industry’s “most favored nation” deals, which say that networks can’t charge some distributors less than others.

Apple’s Eddy Cue has been recently spotted chatting with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Patriots owner Bob Kraft at Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, prompting speculation that Apple is also working on a possible NFL offering.

“The theory is that it could have been staging to give TV executives the shivers,” an unnamed executive joked.

[3/16/15] Apple's long-rumored online TV service could be announced as soon as June, according to The Wall Street Journal. The company is reportedly preparing to offer a service with around 25 channels from broadcasters like ABC, CBS, and Fox and launch it this September across all iOS devices and the Apple TV. The bundle could include the likes of ESPN and FX, and Apple is said to be pushing for a large on-demand library, but it will likely leave out a lot of smaller networks. Recode said last month that Apple was in talks with broadcasters to offer bundles of content.

But although the WSJ reported a year ago that Apple was teaming up with Comcast on a set-top box that would take advantage of priority internet traffic, talks between the two are said to have broken down, meaning that the service at present won't include channels from Comcast-owned NBCUniversal. The WSJ's sources say Apple decided that Comcast was "stringing it along" while diverting effort to develop its own X1 box.

Last week Apple scored a major media deal when it secured exclusive rights to HBO's over-the-top streaming service for three months, and it also dropped the price of the Apple TV to $69. Rumors of a TV service, a new set-top box, or an entirely new TV itself have been floated for many years; 2015 could be the year that Apple starts to get a grip on the tangled TV industry.

[If they can score ESPN and FoxSports, they could one-up Sling TV.  And if they can offer live ABC, CBS, and Fox, this could be serious threat to the cable networks.  But with "only: 25 channels?]

More from the Wall Street Journal story:

The technology giant is in talks with programmers to offer a slimmed-down bundle of TV networks this fall, according to people familiar with the matter. The service would have about 25 channels, anchored by broadcasters such as ABC, CBS and Fox and would be available on Apple devices such as the Apple TV, they said.

Meanwhile, Apple has been talking to Walt Disney Co., CBS Corp., and 21st Century Fox Inc., among other media companies. The idea is to offer consumers a “skinny” bundle with well-known channels like CBS, ESPN and FX, while leaving out the many smaller networks in the standard cable TV package. 21st Century Fox and News Corp, owner of The Wall Street Journal, were until mid-2013 part of the same company.

Some media executives said they believed Apple was aiming to price the service at about $30 to $40 a month. The company is aiming to announce its new service in June and launch it in September, according to people familiar with the matter. The service would work across all devices powered by Apple’s iOS operating system, including iPhones, iPads and Apple TV set-top boxes.

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[well a little more expensive then SlingTV.  But yes, it sure sounds like live network TV over the internet.  This has to be threatening to traditional broadcast television.]