“Verizon is finally ready to acknowledge that cable TV just isn’t working for a lot of us anymore,” Timothy Stenovec reports for The Huffington Post. “The company is planning to launch its Internet-based TV service that can be watched on mobile devices in the “late first half of 2015,” Lowell McAdam, Verizon’s CEO, said at a Goldman Sachs investor conference in New York on Thursday.”
“It’s unclear what exactly the service would look like, but McAdam said it would offer ‘a la carte’ options, rather than being bundled like expensive cable packages are now,” Stenovec reports. “Think Netflix, but with live streaming. McAdam said at the conference that the service would include programming from ‘the big four’ networks — CBS, ABC, NBC and Fox.”
“Verizon’s move comes as the TV industry is set to undergo a massive shift. The rise of streaming services like Netflix, Amazon Prime Instant Video and Hulu, which for a flat fee offer on-demand viewing of movies, TV shows and original programming, pose a threat to traditional “linear” cable and satellite. An increasing number of people — especially young people, a highly coveted demographic for advertisers — are cutting the pay TV cord and opting for streaming services over expensive cable or satellite packages,” Stenovec reports. “Verizon’s McAdam told investors that much of the technology is in place for the network. Now, the company is negotiating with content providers, which in the last two years have become much more receptive to delivering programming in different ways.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Well have to see exactly what McAdam means by “à la carte,” but if it really is sold on a per channel basis (or smaller bundles of channels), this may bode well for future iterations of Apple TV.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “LaughDogLaugh” for the heads up.]