Regarding Dana Blankenhorn’s ‘Sports Opens Door For Apple TV,'” Rocco Pendola writes for TheStreet, “If I read Dana right, he thinks Apple has the physical incarnation of Apple TV in the bag. I don’t agree. He believes the real focus as Tim Cook prepares to roll this thing out is on negotiations with content owners for the right to offer unbundled programming. Dana reckons Apple can convince cable companies and content owners to do what so many consumers dream of — unbundle their programming and offer it a la carte via Apple TV.”
“What’s the incentive for a massive old guard media company to pay billions for the rights to sports and then license those rights to Apple? We will not live in a world where you fire up iTunes on your Apple TV and order Knicks-Nets on MSG without having to purchase the entire NBA League Pass,” Pendola writes. “Think about it… a regional network such as Madison Square Garden can hold Time Warner Cable hostage, effectively saying if you want people in New York to ever see the Yankees, Rangers, Devils and Buffalo Sabres again you will take the Fuse network and like it.”
As for Apple offering à la carte channels, Pendola writes, “Rupert Murdoch. Jeff Bewkes. These guys are not that dumb. They’re certainly not going to fall hook, line and sinker for the ill of history repeating itself [see: Music business unbundled via iTunes Store]. And definitely not with Steve Jobs out of the picture.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Yes, ’tis highly unlikely that Apple will be offering à la carte channels.
One correction: Apple saved the music industry. Music is purchased from iTunes Store as opposed to download for free from torrent sites.
Related article:
Sports opens the door for ‘Apple iTV’ – November 29, 2012