Apple Close to Completing Apple TV Deal with Time Warner Cable

[Leonard1818]

don't care.

gave TWC the finger months ago and LOVING IT. More time with my family, appreciate music again, etc.

The $70/mo. (yes, that's $840/year) savings from cancelling cable is icing on the cake.

I encourage everyone to consider cutting the cord and going outside.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Blame it on the market. So many people are willing to subscribe to cable, so cable companies provide their services at market price based on low supply (forgetting piracy) and high, high demand. People act as if they're price-gouging the public for precious drinking water.

Not really. Blame it on the system of sports franchises. They control their own media rights, exclusively. Nobody can broadcast their games without paying, and they can demand huge and rapidly-growing numbers for those rights. Currently most cable bills are more then 50% pass-throughs to the in-market teams, and a subscriber pays those costs whether they watch the games or not. This is a huge racket that nobody talks about.

The solution is simple: subscribers get a la carte programming selections. But this solution would be essentially impossible to implement unless it was mandated by law, and the chances of it becoming law are essentially zero.

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Then why are cable subscriptions falling year after year?

See above. So how does a person watch sports without cable or satellite? Come to that, how do they watch a news broadcast?

Yes, some people detach themselves from both. That doesn't make it a solution.

 

[chrisbru]

See above. So how does a person watch sports without cable or satellite? Come to that, how do they watch a news broadcast?

Yes, some people detach themselves from both. That doesn't make it a solution.

MLB offers a streaming package. If I didn't care about the NFL and college football, I'd definitely get rid of cable. MLB does a good job of the streaming package.

As for news... Who needs a news broadcast? I can get all that information online already.

 

[bbeagle]

So how does a person watch sports without cable or satellite? Come to that, how do they watch a news broadcast?

Yes, some people detach themselves from both. That doesn't make it a solution.

I've been antenna-only (no cable or satellite since 2009), and I watch Football and Hockey all the time.

There are 4 football games every Sunday on TV (2 on CBS/FOX, 1 on the other), and NBC for Sunday night football. Plenty.

I get Canadian CBC, so I get Hockey Night in Canada and various other nights. I also get most of the playoffs on CBC or NBC. Plenty.

I can easily get more. I can stream every game through NHL center ice on my Apple TV. Just not the home team. Same for NBA and MLB. I watch the other games streaming on various 'questionably legal' web sites. I would definitely pay for this other content if it was available to pay for on it's own, but it's not available this way.

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As for news... Who needs a news broadcast? I can get all that information online already.

The only reason I miss CNN/MSNBC/FOX 24/7 news coverage is for something like a live-breaking event like the OJ car chase, firefighting in Colorado, hurricane coverage, etc. You feel more into the coverage if you're watching live coverage instead of just reading it off the internet or watching old videos (even if they're only 5 minutes old)

 

[scapegoat81]

MLB offers a streaming package. If I didn't care about the NFL and college football, I'd definitely get rid of cable. MLB does a good job of the streaming package.

As for news... Who needs a news broadcast? I can get all that information online already.

I've heard from a number of users that even if you subscribe to the MLB tv package or the NHL package, they block the local team in your area !!??
Call me crazy but that is complete BS !! So if they wanna be like that, I don't need them AT ALL. I'll watch the few games/year that get shown on locals or Espn. At least ill get 90% of my local NFL team throughout the year.

 

[rydewnd2]

Absolutely irrelevant news to anyone outside the US, i.e. most of Apple's market. So why is this on page 1?

Do you have some sort of data that shows that the vast majority of MacRumors readers aren't located in the US? Last time I checked, MacRumors was US based so I'd think US news would be front-page worthy.

 

[3282868]

in favor of my ~$20 TWC subscription. At the end of the day, most of the content I downloaded from there was HBO anyhow.

When TWC offered me HBO & TWC TV for $20, allowing me to avoid all of the USENET/Torrent hassle, it was a no-brainer.

Whoa, what is this package? Is TWC TV an app? I have HBOGO with my TWC internet/cable package, which [of course] is 1000+ channels I don't need. I'm curious what this $20 deal may be.

PS TWC should be taken to court. The same packages in my NYC home cost almost double in my home in Rochester, NY. Rochester/Monroe County has an arrangement that no other cable providers may enter Monroe County (exceptions are satellite provided with Frontier). AT&T U-Verse and Verizon FiOS hubs are in Buffalo, and serve upstate NY to NYC. They cannot enter Rochester, allowing TWC to declare it a "test market" area and jack up the prices. Tons of petitions for years, but course the politicians are probably getting something out of it.

 

[whodatrr]

You really have to ask for it, and jump through a few hoops. As I'd stated earlier, they quoted me ~$54, in my 1st call. I called back and told them about competing offers from Uverse, etc. They tweaked the numbers and got me at ~$20, for very basic cable and HBO. I did have to pick up a box, but didn't have to plug it in. I also have the highest tier internet service, so that may have helped.

Whoa, what is this package? Is TWC TV an app? I have HBOGO with my TWC internet/cable package, which [of course] is 1000+ channels I don't need. I'm curious what this $20 deal may be.

PS TWC should be taken to court. The same packages in my NYC home cost almost double in my home in Rochester, NY. Rochester/Monroe County has an arrangement that no other cable providers may enter Monroe County (exceptions are satellite provided with Frontier). AT&T U-Verse and Verizon FiOS hubs are in Buffalo, and serve upstate NY to NYC. They cannot enter Rochester, allowing TWC to declare it a "test market" area and jack up the prices. Tons of petitions for years, but course the politicians are probably getting something out of it.

 

[Morky]

I would LOVE to see Apple reinvent the way we get the content, but either way you slice it, the cable company is going to get their money. Even if Apple figured out a way to cut them out of the deal completely, they'll just charge us more for the internet that we need to stream content to our TVs. You think the data caps on your iPhone are annoying? How about your home internet too? Some of them are already doing it.

In the meantime, this will help ease the pain of being a Time Warner customer because at least I wont have to deal with the terrible software of their boxes as much. Now Apple, just give us iCloud DVR!

If Jobs told Isaacson he "cracked it" and Cook is openly talking about their "intense interest" in TV, I suspect Apple will make this happen and cable companies will be sad. IP is the future, as is dumb pipe status for the cable companies.

 

[MacManTexas56]

You really have to ask for it, and jump through a few hoops. As I'd stated earlier, they quoted me ~$54, in my 1st call. I called back and told them about competing offers from Uverse, etc. They tweaked the numbers and got me at ~$20, for very basic cable and HBO. I did have to pick up a box, but didn't have to plug it in. I also have the highest tier internet service, so that may have helped.

so you have basic cable or standard cable? bc twc app isn't compatible with the basic package.

http://www.timewarnercable.com/en/residential-home/tv/features.html

i use it with standard cable. how many channels show up for you on the app?

 

[jklps]

I'm nowhere close to 50, I've always have had cable since college.

I like sports, especially my local teams(MLB, NHL and NBA are all on cable except maybe 1 game for my teams a week) and college basketball. There is no other way unfortunately.

I know many people my age, everyone has cable. Maybe one or two people have gone without...so this whole "nobody under 50 has cable" idea is not as pervasive as people are stating.

Some people (especially non-sports fans) are cutting the cord, and I get that. I would consider it too.

 

[jdbr]

Yawn

Yawn, does Apple do any work setting up contracts outside the US? If they sell a product like the ATV outside the US they should work just as hard to get content for those who live in other major markets, or sell the product at a considerably reduced price, because it does not have the same content or similar as the US. However as we all know the ATV is considerably more expensive here in the UK. Shame on Apple, it's a bit of a con!

 

[CapnJackGig]

Looking forward to this. I'm currently "borrowing" my father's Time Warner login info to get WatchESPN on my Apple TV and Xbox. This would be a nice addition to that.

 

[otisg]

I like sports, especially my local teams(MLB, NHL and NBA are all on cable except maybe 1 game for my teams a week) and college basketball. There is no other way unfortunately.

Forgive my ignorance, for I know little of blackouts and other viewing restrictions associated with streaming services, but aren't these (NBA, NHL, and MLB) precisely the three sports WITH a dedicated Apple TV app? I could understand if you had mentioned NFL, but for these, I see another way...

...not sure about the college basketball.

Of course, I can respect your decision to subscribe to cable anyway.

 

[maflynn]

[MOD NOTE]
As per our rules, we do not permit discussions on pirating content, please stay on topic of the news thread and not about piracy.

 

[otisg]

Yawn, does Apple do any work setting up contracts outside the US? If they sell a product like the ATV outside the US they should work just as hard to get content for those who live in other major markets, or sell the product at a considerably reduced price, because it does not have the same content or similar as the US. However as we all know the ATV is considerably more expensive here in the UK. Shame on Apple, it's a bit of a con!

There is no con. The choice to buy is always with the consumer and price and capabilities are clearly stated before purchase. It's unfortunate, but there's nothing wrong with a company prioritizing the country it is based in. That said, don't forget Sky News was in the last round of updates. I know it's not much, but they clearly will work with UK providers.

 

[MacManTexas56]

Forgive my ignorance, for I know little of blackouts and other viewing restrictions associated with streaming services, but aren't these (NBA, NHL, and MLB) precisely the three sports WITH a dedicated Apple TV app? I could understand if you had mentioned NFL, but for these, I see another way...

...not sure about the college basketball.

Of course, I can respect your decision to subscribe to cable anyway.

yes, but for example...i live in Dallas and like to watch the Texas Rangers. 95% of their games are on Fox Sports Southwest, which you can only get when you have cable. I can't get it over the air from an antenna. So if I subscribe to MLB app and select my home team as the Rangers and they know i'm in Dallas, I can't watch the game live. I'd have to wait 45 minutes after the game has ended to be able to watch the game. Kinda defeats the whole point of the app in the first place.

Now it'd be a great deal if I lived in Colorado and I was a Rangers fan...then I could watch all live games bc there wouldn't be a local blackout.

 

[otisg]

[MOD NOTE]
As per our rules, we do not permit discussions on pirating content, please stay on topic of the news thread and not about piracy.

Sorry about that - just doing a bit of fact-checking on a post. Won't happen again.

 

[Gasu E.]

Absolutely irrelevant news to anyone outside the US, i.e. most of Apple's market. So why is this on page 1?

To give whining provincials a chance to embarrass themselves through foolish comments? Bait, cast, hook, reel.

 

[IJ Reilly]

MLB offers a streaming package. If I didn't care about the NFL and college football, I'd definitely get rid of cable. MLB does a good job of the streaming package.

As for news... Who needs a news broadcast? I can get all that information online already.

MLB.com does not offer any streaming of in-market games. The teams own the in-market rights, so they are blacked out. So MLB.com is great if you don't ever want watch your home team play. Other than that, it's wonderful.

I'll decide what I need, thanks.

 

[jklps]

Forgive my ignorance, for I know little of blackouts and other viewing restrictions associated with streaming services, but aren't these (NBA, NHL, and MLB) precisely the three sports WITH a dedicated Apple TV app? I could understand if you had mentioned NFL, but for these, I see another way...

...not sure about the college basketball.

Of course, I can respect your decision to subscribe to cable anyway.

All three services black out local teams on the AppleTv apps. So unless you live somewhere else from where your teams are, you are out of luck.

 

[IJ Reilly]

I'm nowhere close to 50, I've always have had cable since college.

I like sports, especially my local teams(MLB, NHL and NBA are all on cable except maybe 1 game for my teams a week) and college basketball. There is no other way unfortunately.

I know many people my age, everyone has cable. Maybe one or two people have gone without...so this whole "nobody under 50 has cable" idea is not as pervasive as people are stating.

Some people (especially non-sports fans) are cutting the cord, and I get that. I would consider it too.

It's all about calling people "too old to get it."

 

[chrisbru]

MLB.com does not offer any streaming of in-market games. The teams own the in-market rights, so they are blacked out. So MLB.com is great if you don't ever want watch your home team play. Other than that, it's wonderful.

I'll decide what I need, thanks.

I never said you can't decide what you need. I said who needs a broadcast? If you do, then feel free to explain why.

My point with MLB TV is that there is a system in place, it just needs to be flushed out. Nowhere did I claim it is perfect.

 

[Morky]

Me, 100% streaming. Besides my antenna for local OTA channels. Zero DVR's too

Same here. I can watch the Olympics and Oscars in HD with rabbit ears. For everything else, AppleTV and Netflix.

 

[IJ Reilly]

I never said you can't decide what you need. I said who needs a broadcast? If you do, then feel free to explain why.

My point with MLB TV is that there is a system in place, it just needs to be flushed out. Nowhere did I claim it is perfect.

So you are demanding an explanation for why I like to watch news broadcasts? Ha-ha, good one. Lots of people watch programs I couldn't be paid enough to watch, and I'm not expecting an explanation from them.

No, the system is not in place. If a fan can't watch their home team games, then it isn't even close to being in place. As I explained above, the teams have already sold those broadcasting rights to a cable company, locking them up for years, if not decades at a time. Since the cable companies bid for these rights with the expectation that the costs can be passed along to subscribers, they aren't going to be even remotely interested in allowing MLB.com to stream them. Better yet for the cable companies, they get to charge their subscribers for sports teams they never watch. It's a deadlock. I don't see how it gets broken, short of legislation that forces the cable companies to unbundle their channel selections. And that's just not going to happen.

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Same here. I can watch the Olympics and Oscars in HD with rabbit ears. For everything else, AppleTV and Netflix.

Lucky you. Some people are surrounded by mountains.