“Apple Inc. has hired former Time Warner Cable executive Peter Stern as a vice president working on cloud services, which includes the technology company’s subscription offerings such as Apple Music and a potential streaming television service,” Shalini Ramachandran reports for The Wall Street Journal. “An Apple spokesman confirmed the hire.”
“Mr. Stern will report to Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of internet software and services, a person familiar with the matter said,” Ramachandran reports. “Mr. Cue oversees Apple’s growing services segment, which includes businesses like the iTunes Store, Apple Pay and Apple Music. He has also led Apple’s yearslong, on-and-off negotiations with media companies for a proposed television streaming service, though those efforts haven’t yet borne fruit.”
“A well-respected cable industry veteran, Mr. Stern was a key Time Warner Cable executive involved in talks with Apple a few years ago about a potential deal to offer a joint television service over an Apple set-top box, people familiar with the matter said,” Ramachandran reports. “Hiring Mr. Stern could aid Apple’s efforts in television. ”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Hopefully, something truly significant will happen on the Apple TV content front one of these decades.
There’s the problem, he is reporting to Eddy Cue.
Exactly. Eddy Cue should have been fired FIVE years ago. He is beyond incompetent. Anything Eddy Cue touches will be Apple’s next failure. Cue is pathetic.
That’s problem #1.
Problem #2 is that Apple isn’t even trying to replace the entrenched cable industry. Apple is hiring them!!!
Well, there is something to say for learning how the cable industry thinks. From the reports of Eddy Cue’s clueless recent meetings with members of the media oligarchy, Apple has a lot to learn about dealing with this particular class of parasites.
Cable Industry? Cable? A Cable Industry guy! OH no.
Apple’s on the way to being its own ISP
“Thanks for calling to schedule your appointment to access your photos in iCloud. Press 1 to schedule Saturday between 8am and 12noon. Press 2 to schedule for Tuesday between 11am and 4pm….”
I don’t know about Peter Stern. But I can personally testify that Time Warner Cable has been INFAMOUS abusers of their customer base. That’s one fundamental reason why they sold themselves off to Charter Communications. The work culture at TWC was HORRENDOUSLY bad until the merger with Charter, at which point they pulled a 180º and have magically turned into a customer-friendly company, at long bloody last.
IOW: Based on TWC’s ultra-shite reputation of the past, I have a vague fear of Apple having pulled another John Browett blunder. I certainly hope not and wish Mr. Stern well. Just remember Mr. Stern, you’re damned well NOT at Time Warner Cable any more. You’re at a company that is their polar opposite, in a happy way.