“For months investors in the streaming/tech space have been hearing about Hulu’s expansion into live TV. [And now] the curtain was finally raised,” The Entertainment Oracle writes for Seeking Alpha. “And to put it bluntly, it is not the silver bullet everyone expected. Don’t get me wrong, it’s clean, slick and impressive in its own right but it’s not the “‘end-all.’ That in turn got me thinking, maybe there isn’t going to be an “end-all,” at least not for a while. And then I realized maybe this is what Apple has known all along.”
TEO writes, “The problem is that no streamer has the ability to live-stream local channels in every market in the country.”
“Now whenever I talk about this I have to mention rabbit-ear antennas and a special type of TiVo could solve this problem for some consumers, but I stand by my assertion that is not a ‘end-all’ method either as most people who haven’t made the switch are waiting for a more seamless transition and one that doesn’t involve multiple ways of receiving content (and one that is not potentially impacted by weather conditions),” TEO writes. “It is becoming clearer that if you have not cut the cord yet, you are likely not going to until it is a seamless transition and Apple knew it didn’t want to enter a space unless it could truly take a step in that direction and OWN it. Right now, that is not possible – not for Apple, not for anyone.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Certainly, Apple would not only want to be able to offer a fully working (i.e. not “some of you get the local CBS affiliate, but ABC, NBC, and Fox are On Demand-only”) solution in order to satisfy fans, but also to avoid the hypercritical deluge that would occur if they offered what DirectTV Now, SlingTV, Hulu, YouTube TV, and – the best of the bunch – Sony’s PlayStation Vue offer today.
National network streams would solve the issue for many, including us as the amount we care about local news and other local programming can be measured only in rat’s asses.
SEE ALSO:
Turn your Mac into a DVR for over-the-air TV – April 17, 2017
‘Hulu with Live TV’ appears on App Store, includes ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, CBS, ESPN, and more – May 3, 2017
Hulu and NBCUniversal ink expansive agreement to bring top channels to Hulu’s upcoming live TV streaming service – May 1, 2017
YouTube to unveil virtual cable bundle for $30 to $40 a month – February 28, 2017
Stalled talks with Ron Howard highlight Apple’s content confusion – February 16, 2017
Apple vowed to revolutionize television; currently prepping an unremarkable 4K Apple TV instead – February 16, 2017
Apple TV: Still not ready for prime time – February 15, 2017
Apple hires Amazon’s Fire TV head to run Apple TV business – February 8, 2017
Apple’s new TV app shows just how painfully behind Apple is – December 14, 2016
Are you ready for 4K TV? Apple TV isn’t. – November 28, 2016
Apple has no idea what they’re doing in the TV space, and it’s embarrassing – November 3, 2016
Hulu inks deals with Fox and Disney, adding ESPN, Fox News and more to forthcoming live service – November 1, 2016
Apple’s Eddy Cue: Nope, we don’t want to be Netflix – October 20, 2016
Google signs up CBS for planned web TV service to debut in early 2017; close to deal with 21st Century Fox – October 20, 2016
Apple’s Eddy Cue: Nope, we don’t want to be Netflix – October 20, 2016
Apple’s Eddy Cue alienated cable providers and networks with an assertive negotiating style – report – July 28, 2016
Here comes á la carte programming – without Apple – July 13, 2016
Apple TV 4 is a beta product and, if you bought one, you’re an unpaid beta tester – November 5, 2015
Meanwhile, I HIGHLY recommend the CloudTV app for Mac. The thing is excellent:
http://www.cloudtvapp.net
CloudTV allows you to watch over 800 live TV channels from all over the world, as well as download thousands of catch-up programmes from the UK and France, complete with smart playlists and support for AirPlay.
$11.00
The website said that some programmes were restricted to their countries of origin, due to broadcast rights. Which ones? .. it would be fun to see old episodes of What Not to Wear. I’d binge-watch Benny Hill if their archives went back that far.
Patience, please. Give Tim Cook time to f@ck this up, too.
I want a la carte and do not care about local channels. The so-called local news is yellow journalism at it’s most uninformed and sensationalistic, and my weather apps are more detailed, timely and accurate than what they have. I’ll take a generic network stream any day of the week.
I, like tens of millions of cord cutters, am tired of supporting the Disney/ABC/ESPN empire of sports gossip. Give me pay per view for the games I want and you can shove the talking head shows up Bob Iger’s ass. Same for Comcast/NBC’s sports channels, Fox’s and CBS Sports Channel. I think America reached peak sports on radio and TV quite some time ago. ESPN gets about $10/ month per subscriber on your Cable/Satellite/Streaming bundle regardless of you watch it or not. Well I would rather not.
It is a nice scam ESPN has going. You get to pay them for the same sports that used to be on ABC, CBS and NBC for free and you STILL get the damn commercials. The streaming services should price services by numbers- here are our 50 channels- take any 10 for X Dollars and each additional 10 will cost X Dollars. The free market of choice would kill off most of the Bullshit we get to subsidize by set bundles like ESPN 2,3,News, whatever. MTV, BET, VH1 and many others would quickly go dark. Let us choose what cable news channels we want instead of throwing them in a forced bundle- I doubt Botvinik does not like subsidizing MSNBC and I do not like subsidizing Fox anything.
Let’s let the viewers vote with their wallets and we will see the number of channels quickly come down to 10-20 tops and our bills along with it.
Coming at this time, this just sounds like sour grapes to me.