Posted on 03/17/2015 7:02:10 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Apple is reportedly working on a plan to launch its own TV service.
A Wall Street Journal report suggests Apple, which already lets users watch television and Netflix shows through its Apple TV device, is working with programmers "to offer a slimmed-down bundle of TV networks this fall."
The Journal cites sources familiar with the talks who say Apple's subscription service may provide "about 25 channels, anchored by broadcasters such as ABC, CBS, and Fox, and would be available on Apple devices such as the Apple TV."
The as-yet-unannounced service would cost $30 to $40 per month, according to The Journal.
Various rumors and speculation suggesting Apple intends to disrupt television have been circulating for a while, but the tech company's plans have so far been vague and somewhat noncommittal.
There has been talk in recent years that Apple might develop its own television hardware, and when that simmered down, the conversation returned to the possibility that Apple might offer precisely the type of streaming service that is apparently being negotiated now.
What is clear, however, is that Apple wants to cater to customers who are giving up on expensive traditional cable subscriptions. That industry has been ripe for disruption for some time, especially as other platforms like Netflix and Amazon build ever-stronger programming that is finally nipping at the heels of legacy media.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
Lets get past the idea of channels. I dont want to pay for content that I dont watch. So offer me programs. If I want to watch Castle or Vikings or The Amazing Race then let me pay a price and subscribe to that content. It can be automatically delivered to my DVR when its available. When there is nothing I want to watch then nothing has to be coming down the pipe. Save the bandwidth. I might watch more TV that way.
Dish network already offers this. Sling TV. Bundled streaming. ESPN, ESPN2, History, TNT, TBS, Lifetime,CNN, and others for 20 bucks a month. Launched last month.
if you can pick out your 25 channels, plus get the locals, it might be a winner. what’s the point in getting 200 channels if they’re all junk?
Thanks for posting this article.
There are some excellent replies and discussions after weeding of the Apple Cult and Apple hate posts.
High cable costs for scads of channels which so many of us don’t need nor want are creating markets for indoor and outdoor basic TV channels.
What we need are not expensive bundles of channels we seldom or never watch.
Charge us a fee for the programs we watch and at the time we want to watch them.
We only watch Fox cable and the local Fox news channel, a handful of show, mainly on CBS.
We are Giant feans probably former miner fans.
We only speak English and have zero need for dozens of Spanish programs and dozens of other shows.
We have HBO and Showtime as part of our package, and we haven’t watched anything from them in two years.
When we can’t negotiate a semi affordable rate with Comcast, we will stop TV and phone service and negotiate a wireless plan for internet use.
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