“The tech world is abuzz after the Wall Street Journal reported Apple and Comcast are in discussions about teaming up to deliver a streaming TV service that could compete with Netflix,” Mike Murphy writes for SiliconBeat.
“The news sent Apple shares soaring this morning, and Netflix plummeting,” Murphy writes. “But even the Journal says a deal is not imminent, and before we get carried away, there are three significant hurdles any agreement would first have to clear.”
1. Net neutrality: According to the Journal, Apple would pay for a direct line into customers’ homes, traveling on Comcast’s “private” Internet pipes as opposed to its “public” broadband feed. In effect, Apple programming would be delivered as if it was Comcast on-demand content… Technically, that could fit under a vague “managed services” loophole in Comcast’s 2011 net neutrality agreement with the federal government that allowed it to purchase NBCUniversal. Or would it?
2. Will they share? Apple reportedly wants users to sign into the service with their Apple IDs, so it could control the consumer data. But Comcast would likely be loathe to give up access to their own subscribers’ data.
3. Licensing: Ask Netflix, or Amazon, or Starz how difficult it is to acquire the content it wants at a price it can afford. And according to the Journal, “Comcast would want to ensure that the price Apple has to pay to acquire rights wouldn’t cause the service to be priced higher than traditional pay-TV service.” Good luck convincing studios to take it easy on a tech company that has somewhere in the neighborhood of $150 billion in cash on hand.
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Bill” for the heads up.]
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