That's a joke, right? TV these days is written like little-girl fan fiction, acted by un-enigmatic cardboard, and filmed by blind men. It's the least engrossing time in all TV history. And it is mostly propaganda.
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Apple in Talks to Bring HBO Go to the Apple TV
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Apple need to look beyond the US market and get some local content on the AppleTV. Here in the UK they would make the Apple TV a no brainer for many l if they allowed access to our main channels free VOD services such as BBC iPlayer, ITV Player. 4OD, 5OD. Other companies have managed it such as Sony, Panasonic, Samsung etc. so why Apple seem totally unable to negotiate these kind of local content deals is beyond me.
This would be exciting, except I already get HBO on my TV...
...by turning on my TV and cable box.
How well does that system work for your phone or tablet?
Catch up!
It is already on Roku.
I just don't get it, why is it always a big deal with Apple? This is like this whole deal with iTunes Match, were Apple went through everyone and their mama while both Amazon and Google already launched their cloud services, and then did what Apple did a couple of months later on their own terms, not the recording industry terms. What did Apple get? Praises from the music industry for 'doing it right'?
Roku has Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Amazon Cloud Player, Spotify, Pandora, Flex, Crackle, ESPN, and hundreds of international and content channels, plus the ability to stream any content from any PC, and the higher end model has a USB port downloaded content. Why is Apple TV so behind?
spotify would be so sweet
It is already on Roku.
I just don't get it, why is it always a big deal with Apple? This is like this whole deal with iTunes Match, were Apple went through everyone and their mama while both Amazon and Google already launched their cloud services, and then did what Apple did a couple of months later on their own terms, not the recording industry terms. What did Apple get? Praises from the music industry for 'doing it right'?
Roku has Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, Amazon Cloud Player, Spotify, Pandora, Flex, Crackle, ESPN, and hundreds of international and content channels, plus the ability to stream any content from any PC, and the higher end model has a USB port downloaded content. Why is Apple TV so behind?
This would be exciting, except I already get HBO on my TV...
...by turning on my TV and cable box.
There's a heck of a lot of us that are not willing to spend $80+ per month to have access to hundreds of worthless commercial-ridden broadcasts. Being able to subscribe to only the programming we want would make it worthwhile and cost effective.
So I wonder if Apple would allow HBO's skinemax on the Apple TV. We all know how much Apple likes to be the porn police, if you can call that stuff porn. Not that I've ever watched it or anything........
This would be exciting, except I already get HBO on my TV...
...by turning on my TV and cable box.
I am not sure about other providers, but HBO on Demand on U-verse has a small fraction of the content available in HBO Go.
You can already remove icons from your Apple TV....
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So I wonder if Apple would allow HBO's skinemax on the Apple TV. We all know how much Apple likes to be the porn police, if you can call that stuff porn. Not that I've ever watched it or anything........
The Max App is on the iPad and the iPhone. I am not sure why they would decide against allowing it on the Apple TV.
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I am really surprised HBO has not gone for a direct sales channel. It is short-sighted management at Time Warner. I know they are trying to protect their own cable subscription base, but I think there is more money to be made in direct sales.
Maybe if we had not allowed all the Cable content to be bought up by cable companies, this mess would be over already.
People keep talking about there being no benefit. There is PLENTY of benefit for current HBO subscribers. With HBO Go, there is access to not just current but ALL episodes of ALL HBO's original programming (plus access to current run movies, etc...). I don't know about you, but while I have seen a lot of the stuff while it airs, there are some things I missed and would love to catch up on. While it is possible for me to sit and stare at my iPad or iPhone for hours on end and catch up, it's not ideal when you actually have more than one person wanting to catch up and watch. Yes, imagine that. My wife and I like to watch the same shows at the same time.
Anyway, I can see why people who want to cut the cord are complaining, but for current subscribers there is immense benefit to having this on a TV device. When I caught up on THE WIRE, I had to run a 100ft HDMI cable from my Mac to my TV so that I could take advantage of HBO Go, and it didn't look so great. Meanwhile, iOS got airplay which didn't work for HBO Go (I'm seeing some people say it does now. I didn't think so, but I'll have to try it). I have a PS3, but the XBOX got exclusive rights instead. Then the Mac got airplay mirroring, but my Mac didn't make the cutoff with Mountain Lion. And since I have an Apple TV, I refuse to buy a Roku box. So, I'm patiently waiting for this to be available on some device I own!
Anyway, I can see why people who want to cut the cord are complaining, but for current subscribers there is immense benefit to having this on a TV device. When I caught up on THE WIRE, I had to run a 100ft HDMI cable from my Mac to my TV so that I could take advantage of HBO Go, and it didn't look so great. Meanwhile, iOS got airplay which didn't work for HBO Go (I'm seeing some people say it does now. I didn't think so, but I'll have to try it). I have a PS3, but the XBOX got exclusive rights instead. Then the Mac got airplay mirroring, but my Mac didn't make the cutoff with Mountain Lion. And since I have an Apple TV, I refuse to buy a Roku box. So, I'm patiently waiting for this to be available on some device I own!
Apple only seem to be interested in adding subscription players, maybe they receive some form of compensation from these companies?
The UK VOD players you've listed are all from free to air channels so Apple probably doesn't see an opportunity of profiting from hosting them. We do of course, because we think it would make the Apple TV a lot more desirable to the UK market so they could sell a lot more.
Just a thought.
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HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Because, in general, Apple wants to dictate very strict terms while the other guys are generally more cooperative. Apple wants to completely own decisions like price- as if one piece of media is equal to all other similar pieces of media. Is William Shatner's version of Space Oddity at $1.29 really equal in value to David Bowie's original? How about ****'s Rocket Man vs. Elton John's original?
A partner like Netflix lays out big coin up front to woo video players to play ball. Apple generally wants to woo solely on the revenue potential of a cut AFTER Apple takes it's cut first. I've seen decision-maker executives on the video side comment that they'd love to do a deal with Apple but "Apple wants everything" (meaning extraordinarily good deal for Apple but little-to-nothing for 'us').
And, all of the video players have seen what happens when you help Apple gain heavy domination over an industry. They don't want to find themselves in the same type of spot as their music industry cousins. Apple wouldn't even allow owners/creators of music to set their own prices of their own products. The video guys (and music guys too) would rather feel some pain by helping many other players be successful instead of just handing it all over to Apple.
Lastly, in Roku's case, that's their primary business. They are focused on making that as appealing as possible. They are not distracted by iDevices and computers and proprietary connectors and lawsuits, etc. Instead, they are focused on trying to do this kind of thing as right as they can do it. Apple refers to
TV as a "hobby" (even 6 years on since releasing the first one) and they keep "pulling the string to see where it takes us" rather than getting very serious about it.Apple easily has the resources to put at least as many human resources on forging deals as a much smaller company like Roku does. Apple easily has the cash resources to out-spend Netflix to "grease the wheels" with industry players to get major content deals done. IMO, it's mostly a lack of focus on this part of the whole. And too bad if true, as I think the whole market is theirs for the taking if they would just get very serious about going after it.
I suspect they are fixated on trying to make the (very pro-Apple) music deal again in a changed world where the next big target can clearly see the flaws in that deal for the Studios. Even the music industry hasn't allowed Apple to roll out any kind of Pandora-like subscription option yet, in spite of that rumor flying for what: 4+ years now? Why is that so hard to get done? Perhaps because Apple is a tough partner and the content owner's side of a "win:win" doesn't have enough win in it vs. doing such deals with others.
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I would gladly cut the cord if I could subscribe to my local channels (and PBS stations) and 15 or so other networks. Maybe Apple can get HBO Go to no HBO cable subscribers that would be a plus and the start of independence from cable lock-ins.
Presumably, HBO Go on the Apple TV will not require a cable prescription. If so, you're right that would render this deal pointless.
It will. HBO Go is still only for HBO subscribers.