“Time Warner Inc. isn’t even on the block yet, but Apple is staying extra close to any possible movement on this front,” Claire Atkinson and Josh Kosman report for The New York Post. “The tech giant is among a handful of companies, all possible suitors of the entertainment company, which has recently come under pressure from activists to sell itself or spin off assets, sources familiar with the situation said Tuesday.”
“With Time Warner shares closing at $71.06 on Tuesday — well below the $85 offer from 21st Century Fox that its board rejected 18 months ago — the New York company is seen as a sitting duck among media companies because it, unlike its peers, doesn’t have a dual-class shareholder structure,” Atkinson and Kosman report. “In addition to Apple, AT&T, which now owns DirecTV, is also seen as a possible Time Warner suitor, as is Fox, which Bloomberg noted would still make a good partner for the Jeff Bewkes-led company.”
“Apple is eyeing Time Warner’s assets to ease the launch of a stand-alone streaming TV service, a senior tech insider suggested on Tuesday,” Atkinson and Kosman report. “Eddy Cue, one of Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook’s top lieutenants, in charge of content deals, has been keeping tabs on proceedings at Time Warner, a source close to Apple said.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Apple should use their cash pile to create some much needed leverage to finally get their Apple TV subscription bundle(s) up and running.
SEE ALSO:
Apple TV flaws that Apple should fix fast – November 3, 2015
I moved the new Apple TV to Input 1 in just four days – November 3, 2015
TouchArcade reviews new Apple TV: A discoverability nightmare, zany controls, and loads of potential – November 2, 2015
Terry White reviews Apple TV: Feels like an ‘unfinished’ product – November 2, 2015
ZDNet reviews Apple TV: A diamond in the rough – very rough – November 2, 2015
New York Times: All-new Apple TV invigorates the set-top box – October 29, 2015
Paczkowski: Yes, the Apple TV you’ve always wanted is finally here – October 29, 2015
Apple TV’s Siri search soon to include Apple Music – October 29, 2015
Apple TV review: Channels are dead. The future of TV is apps – October 29, 2015
Mossberg reviews the new Apple TV: ‘This is the one I’d buy’ – October 28, 2015
Apple provides HBO with leverage to use against cable and satellite providers – March 13, 2015
This mission should Apple choose to accept it ….
Hopefully, Eddy the Wonder is keeping closer tabs on this than he did on Apple Music’s and iTunes’s UIs, Apple TV’s capabilities (or lack thereof) at launch, or Apple News traffic data.
Getting TWC would definitely take Apple up another notch as far as revenue is concerned. I’d like to see Apple at least make an honest attempt to acquire the company.
It’s not Time Warner Cable, it’s Time Warner. Two completely different companies.
Agreed.. Charter is buying Time Warner Cable as far as I know.. http://thehill.com/policy/technology/265391-new-york-blesses-charter-time-warner-cable-deal
Buying the TWC dinosaur is the worst idea ever for the use of Apple’s cash.
Buy Sprint. Build out a 5G LTE wireless network for last mile access. Sell video on demand, data and voice over the same network.
Do it Apple.
Easing Mr. No Cue work easier! Hope Apple don’t pay tooooooo much for TWX WITH CUE BALL dealing.
I would rather have Apple figure out how to break the strangle hold of carriers for Data use. Nickel and dime users with voice, text and data use by the carriers is gonna break Apple runaways sales success in the future.
If Apple bought content from TWC it could put Apple in an uncomfortable position when doing deals with other content owners. Content owners may choose to see Apple as a potential rival instead of as a potential partner. It could make it even more difficult for Apple to strike deals. Not a particularly good plan.
Its just mind-boggling that Apple still doesn’t offer some sort of TV streaming service at this point. I have to use a hodgepodge of Hulu, Amazon, FireStick, YouTube, and Netflix. Apples seeming lack of being able to secure content deals is hard to understand.
To unwieldy a sandbox. A decision definitely above my pay grade. 😉
Not really. The guys in this entertainment industry are a bit smarter (or think they are) than those in the music industry. They saw what happened to the music labels after dealing with Apple and are absolutely terrified it will happen to them.
Opps. This was meant as a reply to AustinTX1.
Spot on. Additionally, when Apple did the music deals they were far smaller than they are today. TV and movie content providers and content distributors have every good reason to be concerned about Apple entering their space. With their current size and resources Apple WILL disrupt the business models of everyone in the industry regardless of whether they are a partner or competitor.
To win key industry players over in this turbulent environment, Apple has to show them a business plan that promises reliable revenue growth and insulates them from risk. Eddy Cue hasn’t managed that yet. I’m not going to dis Eddy because this is very hard to do. Jobs himself struggled with content providers early on. But until Apple can do these two things they will continue to be the 800 pound wall flower gorilla that no one wants to dance with.
No more bundling!!!!
No way would Apple buy a company with such terrable customer service.
Time Warner and Time Warner Cable are two separate companies.. TWC is currently being bought by Charter Communications. http://thehill.com/policy/technology/265391-new-york-blesses-charter-time-warner-cable-deal