No New Apple Television Products Coming in 2012 as Content Negotiations Stall Once Again

[MacRumors]

Bloomberg reports that Apple will not be releasing a new "TV product" this year as difficult negotiations with media companies have slowed Apple's plans. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Apple is working a new set-top box offering access to live and on-demand television content, but a timeframe for a release of the product was not given at that time. Apple has also been said to be working on its own television set, but apparently neither product will be making an appearance in the relatively near future.

Apple is vying with the likes of Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. to make TVs the digital hub of people's lives in an industry projected to reach $200 billion worldwide by 2017. Whoever wins must first strike deals with media companies or cable providers who have little incentive to cede valuable revenue streams. The result: Apple won't be releasing a new TV product this year, as analysts had predicted, said a person familiar with the company's plans.

Negotiations between Apple and the media companies have reportedly stumbled over the software interface for any new television product from Apple, with cable companies wanting to have control over the software. The two sides are also at loggerheads over whether Apple would sell a new set-top box directly to consumers or if the device would be distributed by the cable companies.

The report also offers a rehashing of The Wall Street Journal's details on what the new set-top box would offer:

Since the middle of the last decade, Apple's engineers have been working on a more advanced product to allow viewers to quickly find shows and movies, blending both live and recorded material, the people said. It would recommend content based on interests and work seamlessly with Apple's family of other devices. An iPhone or iPad would double as a remote control, the people said.

Apple has reportedly been talking with cable companies since the original Apple TV's debut in 2007, but talks have repeatedly stalled over numerous issues. More recently, Apple is said to have focused on companies willing to offer Apple live content for streaming, with Time Warner Cable apparently being the major cable company most receptive to Apple's proposals.

Apple is furthest along negotiating with Time Warner Cable Inc., said the people familiar with the talks. Yet even if Time Warner Cable agrees to a deal with Apple, it wouldn't represent a radical change for customers, who would still pay their monthly cable bill.

Apple may be looking to Time Warner Cable to be its first partner in a similar way that AT&T Inc. helped bring the iPhone to market, one person said.

Beyond live content, Apple is also said to be pursuing substantial offerings of on-demand content, but media companies are wary of losing control of their content and the channel bundles offered through cable providers.

Article Link: No New Apple Television Products Coming in 2012 as Content Negotiations Stall Once Again

[G51989]

* Waits for flood of people saying Apple will just buy all the networks and cable companies *.

Because that will totally happen. I also think any form of Apple TV could be an issue, as the Telecomns, Networks and cable providers ( who tend to be the ISP's for most people as well ) really don't have anything to gain from Apples deals, which probably go something like " so, we'll take all the profit and you get nothing "

The current Apple TV setup seems to work pretty well as it is.

[Rot'nApple]

Something even Steve couldn't lock down after he told his biographer that he got it when it came to the TV.
/
/

[AppleGuesser]

Hey, another product that MR has been hyping up and proclaimed with certainty its coming only to back out at the 11th hour. Kinda like the iPad Mini that you guys guarenteed would be released 2 years ago and again last year?

In other news, the iPhone Mini is rumored to be in production. Here is a shoddy rendered picture. Trust us, its real....

[conditionals]

As long as my AppleTV keeps working the way it does, content-wise. I'm happy.

I'd love to see the option of having a hard drive in there like on the generation 1 so I can store episodes, but I know that'll never happen.

[Frankied22]

Go figure. There's never going to be an Apple TV besides the $99 set top box they already sell. Just people going back on their confirmations of earlier this year.

----------

Originally Posted by AppleGuesser

Hey, another product that MR has been hyping up and proclaimed with certainty its coming only to back out when at the 11th hour. Kinda like the iPad Mini that you guys guarenteed would be released 2 years ago and again last year?

In other news, the iPhone Mini is rumored to be in production. Here is a shoddy rendered picture. Trust us, its real....

Exactly.

[WatchTheThrone]

Those content owners better get with the program or die out. Now wonder they call them the dinosaur networks!!

[G51989]

Originally Posted by WatchTheThrone

Those content owners better get with the program or die out. Now wonder they call them the dinosaur networks!!

Or die out? How do you figure? They own the content that everyone wants.

[verniesgarden]

Originally Posted by AppleGuesser

Hey, another product that MR has been hyping up and proclaimed with certainty its coming only to back out at the 11th hour. Kinda like the iPad Mini that you guys guarenteed would be released 2 years ago and again last year?

In other news, the iPhone Mini is rumored to be in production. Here is a shoddy rendered picture. Trust us, its real....

iPad Mini is becoming the new powerbook G5

[BigJohno]

Could have told you that. Why rush it when they have no competition or release a half baked product.

[AppleGuesser]

Originally Posted by verniesgarden

iPad Mini is becoming the new powerbook G5

I 100% agree with you on that.

[maxwelltech]

New Apple TV definitely not coming this year. I doubt it will even come at 2013. I am really hoping for an easier to use TV though from any company. I just setup a new cable box today and it took me a long time to figure it out.

[sbrhwkp3]

Ha. Remember what happened when Verizon wanted control of the iPhone operating system? Peace out. We're going to AT&T.

5 years later...

Jump on board, or regret making the biggest mistake of your life. That's my advice to these content providers.

[Technarchy]

No point in rushing the endeavor...if there is an endeavor.

I'm still having a hard time seeing how Apple just making a TV with Tivo abilities is significant enough to invest in on a large scale.

The baseline concept just doesn't seem like anything all that special, and not at all a paradigm shift.

[diamond3]

Originally Posted by MacRumors

Negotiations between Apple and the media companies have reportedly stumbled over the software interface for any new television product from Apple, with cable companies wanting to have control over the software.

Yes, because Dish, Directv, comcast and others have all been highly successful at the software ran on their boxes. I mean, comcast has boxes out there that look like they run a form of DOS. As of right now while looking at all the different companies, it comes down to what system isn't a complete joke. None of them have been good although some are starting to improve.

[CindyRed]

I doubt Apple will play ball until cable providers start to change their current business model. That's hardly going to happen when people don't have much choice over who to go with region to region. The only way to change this is if we stop paying for traditional cable/satellite television on the whole.

Remember, Apple only went with AT&T because they were the only service provider willing to change their business model to accommodate Apple, and that was because of how poorly they stood in the market before the iPhone. Now they're back at number two and they've shown other providers Apple's model works just as well, as long as the product is desirable. That's how we're able to use iPhones without Verizon logos all over it, or we can listen to our music without having to use the Virgin Media Player/Music Store.

Cable providers will continue to want control of the software and hardware so they can continue to control the content and push higher priced content on us. They're not desperate to hand over control of how people watch their television... Yet.

[ts1973]

Call me a pessimist, but these differences are major and will prevent any launch of an integrated tv product by any company for the foreseeable future, and I'm thinking in years here.

There just is no incentive for cable companies to go along. Now, for me, none of this matters very much because this is a US story, God knows when such a product would ever get to Europe (we're talking a hundred of these difficult partners in that case), but it's a shame for you guys.

[WatchTheThrone]

Originally Posted by G51989

Or die out? How do you figure? They own the content that everyone wants.

Yes but they don't provide it to you do they?? They sell the rights to satellite and cable providers which eventually will die out in favor of on demand content via broadband!!
I know people who have cancelled their cable/satellite in favor of Hulu and Netflix which charge much much less per month!! Which means people want on demand shows with no commercials or very little commercials. And we all know commercials are their cash cow. So if they don't get with the program now when they can charge apple more because cable/satellite is still popular, then they will die out and later on in the future be begging apple to make a deal worth much much less!!
I hope I make sense!!

WtT

[Macman45]

No content = no product...Even with Apple's bank balance the mooted TV products are a risk....You pay millions for the rights to content, then hope and pray that you're new all singing all dancing $3K+ priduct sells in enough volume to justify the cost of acquiring the content in the first place.

I for one would not rush out to replace my current 46" Sony with an Apple offering. I have 2 ATV3's too....I think Apple should take a very deep breathe before plunging into the cut-throat market that is media....It's a dog eat dog world....I know, I work in it.

[ThisIsNotMe]

Just make it happen or buy one of the content producers/providers.

[liavman]

Man, this actually informs me more about the pre iPhone smartphone world and what a great achievement by Apple and Cingular to break from the mould and offer something new. The TV content and distribution world seems to be in a similar rut. Apple just needs to break one open and others will then beg Apple to consider them also.

Wouldn't Direct TV and DISH be better partners for Apple's ambitions? That has lots of similarities to the cell phone companies ( having to install a dish notwithstanding ). For this to work, the distribution companies needed to have the right contract with the content providers so they can work Apple on such things.

[2IS]

Looks like Apples "our way or the highway" tactics aren't working here.

[thekev]

Originally Posted by G51989

* Waits for flood of people saying Apple will just buy all the networks and cable companies *.

Because that will totally happen. I also think any form of Apple TV could be an issue, as the Telecomns, Networks and cable providers ( who tend to be the ISP's for most people as well ) really don't have anything to gain from Apples deals, which probably go something like " so, we'll take all the profit and you get nothing "

The current Apple TV setup seems to work pretty well as it is.

I could see the telecoms being more responsive to the idea of being dumb pipes for media content as they have less of a stake than cable providers. If everyone is just streaming though, I wonder if we'll see bandwidth caps and throttling. Such things do exist in certain countries.

Originally Posted by WatchTheThrone

Those content owners better get with the program or die out. Now wonder they call them the dinosaur networks!!

They would only die out if they can no longer profit from the content. Right now this hasn't happened, and there are other methods of distribution. Note netflix, hulu, etc. It's not like their only choice is to cater to Apple's will.

[verniesgarden]

I still think we are going to get something, they have such a great talking point with HULU coming to the AppleTV, I'm holding out for apps.

[a0me]

Originally Posted by conditionals

As long as my AppleTV keeps working the way it does, content-wise. I'm happy.

I'd love to see the option of having a hard drive in there like on the generation 1 so I can store episodes, but I know that'll never happen.

A hard drive would raise the cost of the unit, and there'll always been people to complain about the hard drive being too small.
What I'd like to see is support for NAS hard drives, although since the Apple TV relies on iTunes to serve the content from your local storage, that will probably never happen.