“Apple may be on the verge of gaining two key television network agreements, according to The Wall Street Journal. Specifically, CBS and Walt Disney (which runs ABC) are said to be considering a proposal by Apple to offer a subscription-based TV service over the Internet,” Siegler reports. “Presumably, this would work through iTunes like all of Apple-based content, but also presumably it would work over Apple’s Apple TV device (though maybe a new version of it) to bring this content into the living room, where people are used to consuming it.”
Siegler reports, “Simply put: This could be huge.”
Full article here.
Suck is not a bad enough word to describe my cable company.
Please yes. The ad-supported TV model has given us truckloads of lowest-common-denominator dreck. Give us quality programming we actually want to pay for – which we can directly support by purchasing.
i would like to see an apple tv with built in Directv. that would be awesome. i hate cable.
Anything that frak’s Comcast is okay by me.
ewww…Directv ftw. all my SD channels look like DVDs and HD channels look like Blu-Ray. Directv offers coast to coast fully digital content. UNLIKE CABLE. An apple tv with Directv built in featureing DVR and ondemand powered by the itunes store via a subscription model would be a very nice home entertainment package
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” />
I’m perfectly content with my Verizon FiOS service.
All of the people out there who hate their cable so much seem to be Comcast sufferers.
I got rid of my cable over a year ago due to their constantly increasing prices. This would be a nice addition to the OTA channels. Instead of lining the cable guys’ pockets, I can subscribe to a show I like knowing (hopefully) that my purchase benefitted them directly allowing them to continue producing quality content.
Oh yes please! Comcast sucks way too much money for scads of drivel.
i hate cable…with a passion. even FiOS is really cable. the picture isnt any better. the internet isnt really faster. its digital cable delivered over a different medium. Directv would allow apple to bundle with itunes on demand service with everyone in the nation under ONE provider. not everyone had cable…but everyone has a view of the southern sky
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” />
Why cable has never been forced to offer an a la carte system for its channels is inexcusable. Think of how many channels you got and what percentage you actually watch.
It must be under 5 percent.
Pls add local channels like NESN. I would gladly pay $3-4 per month for that. It sure beats having to get it via a bloated cable subscription. Ditto for ESPN. CertaInly that direct fee from us is more than comcast is paying them!
YES! I’ve owned Apple TV’s (yes, two of them) since they were launched. I’ve forlornly watched as Apple has treated it as the ignored step-child. I cancelled my (worse than sucky) cable service even before that, in favor of Sattelite–which was no better. I get news through podcasts. I stream video with a Mac Mini (wall-mounted next to my Apple TV under my HDTV). I don’t miss broadcast or cable a bit. I don’t mind buying content, but I don’t want to buy all of it. iTunes movie rentals went a long way to fixing that, but most TV shows are not worth the cost in iTunes. I would be willing to pay, however for streaming network TV, as long as I get it stripped (or nearly so) of commercials. I could deal with a 30-second spot every 15 minutes, similar to hulu, but wouldn’t pay for content that’s also going to spend a third of my viewing time spamming me with commercials.
If I get rid of Comcast how will I get Internet access?
While i love the idea of bypassing cable, it will not really take off until they get most of the networks on it, especially live sports. If Apple could give me all the sports I want I would drop Cable now (For TV they still will get my $ for the cable modem – unfortunately!
I still have cable for internet (and they still suck), but that’s the only service (they call it that, anyway) I subscribe to. If I could get fiberoptic from the phone company, if be all over it.
Never going to happen with out Net neutrality.
If cables sees there revenue shrinking because of this they will throttle iTunes download traffic. I am seeing it already with Rogers, they have supposedly upped my bandwidth but on Apple TV and iTunes the time it takes to download a movie has gone from 2-4 hours to 20 – 30 hours. This is not acceptable for TV or Video downloads. I have a season pass to House, this does not start downloading till Tuesday AM and I usually cant watch till Wednesday evening.
@R2…In Montreal we have Videotron. 57 channels and nothing’s on…..
I doubt comcast could be worse.
AT&T;U-Verse is pretty awesome.
Their service is decent, their DVR streams to every room, and can be used and accessed in any room, their DVR includes four tuners, and it can all be programed over the internet.
I use their video on-demand every single day, to entertain my three kids.
Their internet speeds are actually fairly close to what they advertise too, which is NEVER the case with Comcast!
With Comcast, I was paying for 8 Gbps, and getting 2 Gbps. With U-verse, I pay for 10 BGps, and I get 9.6 Gbps.
I would be much happier if my bill were substantially less though.
I hope so!
Make it more convenient to watch the latest 30Rock on an Apple TV on demand, than it is for me to download it via torrents, and the Broadcasters have my support again.
Apple will only be a secondary provider of content because you need some kind of delivery system to get to people’s homes, and Apple isn’t about to build out a wired cable network or a satellite network, so it will have to depend on internet access provided by these companies.
He who controls the access, controls the content.
Sorry to be contrarian. . . .
I was a happy Direct TV customer, but now I’m a happier FIOS customer. The picture is much better, and my internet is much, much better.
Still, I live in a metropolitan area. . . . I’m sure more competition will help many communities.
I am not sure what is expected from the cable companies that is not already provided. I must be spoiled. I have Verizon Fios. Internet download speeds above 15 and upload around 5. I cannot remember the last TV outage. Get more channels than I can watch and landline telephone service wth unlimited long distance. All for around $150 per month with HBO/Showtime/etc.
Cable companies and phone network companies need to be dumb pipes, nothing more.
What I really wish for is an open system insteaad og the Apple TV. A couple of days ago I signed up for Netflix for $8.99/Month with unlimited downloads and 1 DVD at a time. I have not used the mail portion. But, for $9 a month, there is a ton of content. There may be better service than Netflix. But, my point is that it would be nice if there was a non-proprietary open system so services like Netflix could be added. I realize the competition with iTunes store. But, I will still use iTune because they offer a far larger number of movies and TV. But, the don’t offer TV series beyond the current one. I am just now getting into Dexter and I want to catch up. Netflix has every episode for $9 a month. ATV only has Season 4. Makes the Mac Mini look a lot more attractive to me.