CBS Open to Talks on Apple TV, Depending on "What We Get Paid"

How is the XBOX 360 a competitor for the Apple TV? Have you ever actually used the xbox for watching tv? The UI is a freaking mess. navigate a 100 menus and sign into and out of apps just to watch a show.

I would say Roku is biggest competitor hands down! I even sold my Apple TV to buy a Roku and have not looked back.

Big Bang Theory FTW!!!

OriginalMacRat said:

CBS needs to stop trying to be their own gateway and just put their programming on Hulu already.

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No doubt. If they can't even get along with Hulu, I'm not holding my breath for a good relationship with Apple. What's he want, a billion dollars a month? Losers.

CBS is the worst network for those trying to be "cord free" from cable/sat providers.

G51989 said:

Translation 2: we make all the content, we are the most watched netwotk in the nation, ( you don't even need cable. They do over the air in HD and sd ). Our parent company viacom is the largest media company in the country. You do it on our terms or you donr get our comtent.

Make no mistake, CBS holds the cards in this deal. Not apple.

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Let's see how it goes. For my part I've already fixed some popcorn and a couch to see the CBS Circus Amenux

Apple tv needs APPS!!! Just allow it already Apple!

dolph0291 said:

That's your opinion. The little remote is perfect for me. My TV has a humongous remote that can control cable boxes, DVD players, lord know what else, but none of which I have. I use three buttons on it: power, volume up/down. The little silver remote for controlling my content is brilliant.

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It's obvious you just have a TV, and not a home theater. Your little silver remote won't even turn your TV on and off.

Westside guy said:

No - pay them in BitCoins.

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Lol, didn't the Bitcoin market crash a little while back?

Anyways, I'm not very skeptical about the content providers: their motives are clear and they want to get paid fairly for their libraries. For CBS that includes BIg Bang, Star Trek, and other big names.

It's really the telecom companies I distrust, as they would not only like to rip you off for access but also bandwidth, and now data consumption as well before you even get the content. And that's just with Internet; their cable tier packages also leave a lot to be desired.

Right now, the Apple TV offers a better interface for watching vids than the consoles. It's the other set top boxes that give it real competition to strive for. However, compared to the consoles (360, PS3), it has a much more streamlined, faster interface for watching all the content. And all that and drawing a heck of a lot less power in use. The consoles are still clunky and slow for watching video content. Though I think 360 has the quickest interface of the consoles, provided you use the Bing search function and/or voice commands.

Ieo said:

Oh, and make a different remote. The little aluminum sliver doesn't cut it as a remote for a primary entertainment device.

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emaja said:

Harmony One, my friend. Harmony One.

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dolph0291 said:

That's your opinion. The little remote is perfect for me.

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I have a Harmony, but frankly it's amazing what control you have with the little included remote on an ATV. Such a great interface. The lone killer to me is no volume control of any kind. I'm not sure how that ever got out of development without even device-line-level control.

So yes, it remote doesn't cut it as a primary remote. Yes, the Harmony is the better all-inclusive option. Yes, they are voicing their opinions.

emaja said:

Harmony One, my friend. Harmony One.

Everyone I know who has a home theater has a universal remote of some kind.

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Had a harmony one....the screen died after a 4 foot fall onto carpet and Logitech offered to graciously sell me another one rather than make any attempt on repairing or replacing it.

I didn't want to do business with them again, but it IS a quality product, so I bought the Harmony 300 instead. Less flashy, but still does what I need it to do (at 1/10th the cost).

Even the 300 is too much though...ALL I need is Apple remote functions, volume for the TV, and power. That's it. I know hoping for an Apple semi-universal remote is pretty far-fetched, but I want one dammit...haha.

class77 said:

I want to know the reasoning behind HBO Go allowing access from Roku and iPad app, but not allowing it from ATV. You have to have a subscription to HBO anyway, so what's the problem

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No HBOGo on Comcast for Roku

Ieo said:

I know hoping for an Apple semi-universal remote is pretty far-fetched, but I want one dammit...haha.

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Me too. A nice, simple learning iOS remote app even. There's one for my Onkyo receiver. Why not for everything?

Ieo said:

Had a harmony one....the screen died after a 4 foot fall onto carpet and Logitech offered to graciously sell me another one rather than make any attempt on repairing or replacing it.

Even the 300 is too much though...ALL I need is Apple remote functions, volume for the TV, and power. That's it. I know hoping for an Apple semi-universal remote is pretty far-fetched, but I want one dammit...haha.

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I opted for the Harmony Link, now I can use my iphone or ipad to control everything. It should be about 100 bucks.

bushido said:

CBS has the best sitcoms and yes Person of Interest too

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Honest question - can you list for me which CBS sitcoms you think are great? Off the top of my head the only one I like is Big Bang Theory. And even that show which used to be great is now just good. But I'm always looking for great new comedies to watch, so please list some.

I don't think Apple TV is really meant for power consumers - Apple knows that with the current model, they can't really offer a cable/satellite replacement for the majority of users.

I have DirecTV because I have to in order to have NFL Sunday Ticket and other live sports. I use my Apple TV as a content supplement in order to have a convenient way to play iTunes movie rentals, Netflix, and my iTunes library through my home audio system.

It's only REALLY going to change if they can (or have?) crack(ed) the current content delivery method. If Apple found a way to get live sports reliably via streaming (MLB.tv is ok, but Extra Innings is well worth the investment as it currently stands), many people could likely drop their satellite or cable for good.

Edited to add:
My point is that different boxes (Xbox, Roku, etc.) are just like Android vs. iOS or OSX vs. Windows - you get different things with each platform. However, none of those boxes can currently serve as a cable/satellite replacement for the vast majority of current subscribers.

You do realize that the AppleTV will learn codes transmitted from other remotes you already have. So if you have Directv or Cable, you can program the aux to control AppleTV. That way you have power, volume, video control, and playback control for the AppleTV. I would imagine many TV remotes have enough buttons you could use to program for AppleTV.

This is a much better solution IMO than having tons of buttons on Apples remote.

I would not pay anything... CBS can be had for free with a antenna. If you like the convience of not having a some type of DVR device and you would like to buy it and have it then it makes sense.

NFL Sunday Ticket would be amazing.

G51989 said:

Translation 2: we make all the content, we are the most watched netwotk in the nation, ( you don't even need cable. They do over the air in HD and sd ). Our parent company viacom is the largest media company in the country. You do it on our terms or you donr get our comtent.

Make no mistake, CBS holds the cards in this deal. Not apple.

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First, Viacom doesn't own CBS anymore, and they haven't since 2006.

As for the payment. How about Apple takes about a third of their cash reserve and buys CBS? CBS has a market cap of about $22 billion right now, give that a 33% boost for takeover and it is right about $30 billion. Which is about Apple's yearly net profits. Then again, they could simply talk to Mr. Redstone about buying his controlling share and save some dollars.

CBS may have the content now, but for how much longer? The fact that they are trying to make all of the rules for the ballgame with some pretty big fish (Apple, Microsoft, Google, and Amazon), means that had better be a little respectful. I mean when one of these companies makes enough to buy your entire company in a single year they might just decide to replace you and make their own rules (i.e. content).

And for those that say it couldn't happen consider that Google, Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu are all spending some money right now on original content. Heck, Amazon has hired away some media industry bigwigs and has started their own production company already, Amazon Studios. What do you think will happen if Apple ever starts taking this seriously? Right now Apple is the network's best friend, because unlike Amazon and Google they aren't showing any interest in replacing the production companies. YET!

Couple this with Google's impressive and intelligent play of building their own fiber network, Amazon's wireless deals with the cellular carriers for the Kindle, and the suggestion coming from a few pundits that Apple might look to buy Sprint and you are looking at a segment of the market maneuvering to completely cut the production and distribution incumbents out of the game entirely.

So, I think it might behoove the incumbents to take a realistic look at what the future might hold in store for them.

herocero said:

CBS/Viacom, Universal, News Corp. If all three said, "We'll charge you $50 a month to stream all of our content with or without a cable subscription" I promise you Verizon, Time Warner, Comcast, etc. would all collectively jump off a bridge. Their only hope is to make the kind of deals with Apple/Smart TV manufacturers that they did with MS for Xbox, provide the content to the device so long as you have a subscription (the current status quo for streaming watchESPN.com, NBC Olympics, HBO Go, etc.). If CBS signs up for this incumbent telcos will fight TOOTH AND NAIL to avoid their Internet services becoming dumb pipes at the expense of their cable TV business.

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I know that Comcast makes more money being an Internet provider than they do with TV. In their perfect world they would get rid of the TV division entirely and be just that. Let the consumers deal with the networks.

I'm still waiting for Apple to release an Apple TV iOS App so I cant watch shows on my iPhone anywhere.

MacRumors said:

[...] Perhaps the biggest competitor to the Apple TV's video streaming is from Microsoft's Xbox 360. [...]

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Perhaps it is. But don't forget that Apple TV outsold Xbox 360 last quarter. 1.3 million Apple TVs, 1.1 million Xbox 360s.

Yes, the Xbox 720 is supposedly due to be released some time between 2013 and 2015. But don't hold your breath.

I wish they would do this:

Season Pass (Own): Keep all episodes and exclusive content for $30.00
Season Pass (Rent): Rent all episodes (no exclusive content) for $15.00

Prices are just examples but the idea is the rent would be half of the own. This is better than Hulu's model because we pay for the shows we want but also gives the content provider enough money not to show ads.

$96 for a year on Hulu Plus, it would take 6+ shows to equal that on iTunes (and even if you do go over 6 you don't have to worry about ads anyway so you might as well stay with iTunes)

An Apple original series just a matter of time

Football...

Wake me when they get an NFL feed half as good as the MLB feed. I can watch any baseball game on AppleTV in HD for a reasonably-priced subscription.

Come on Goodell... Pull your head outta your ass...