Apple in Talks with Comcast to Provide Streaming TV Service on Future Apple TV

[macUser2007]

So, net-neutrality was effectively killed by Comcast.

The Comcast acquisition of TWC sent a message that if you want to be a player, you have to deal with Comcast and brought in line first Netflix and now Apple.

If Congress or the FTC don't do something, the US will end up with even poorer internet and content options. At this point, there is very little difference between a government monopoly and Comcast's private one.

BTW, if I wanted Comcast, I would have it and use their box.

 

[AppleScruff1]

That's not what I've found. I watch plenty of TV. Too much, probably. Here's what I was getting for my money with DirecTV:

My household watches half a dozen network shows per week, shows on Bravo, Lifetime, HGTV (Property Brothers), and A&E (Walking Dead). I watch all the news channels for work. We also have HBO and watch Game of Thrones, Girls, and Boardwalk Empire. Since our promotional period with DirecTV expired a couple months ago, our bill jumped up to $120, or $1,440 per year.

Today, I figured out that almost all those shows are available on Roku and AppleTV (I have both). There are streams for all the news channels and Property Brothers, so I can watch them on my laptop or Airplay them to my AppleTV. The cost of Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime, as well as season passes for GoT, Walking Dead, Girls, Boardwalk, and the Lifetime show (which shall remain nameless... too embarrassing) amounts to $481/year.

That's almost $1000 savings. Even when you throw in the $50 digital antenna I'll buy to get local channels. I called DirecTV and canceled.

I'm not even remotely interested in this Comcast deal. The whole point of AppleTV, Roku and the other boxes, for me, is to bypass those cable/satellite bills.

How much do you pay per month for internet access?

 

[SHNXX]

One way or another comcast and cable companies will get your money.

And why shouldn't they?
They provide the internet, make some of the content and own hulu.

This deal with Comcast and aapl may not be the utopian solution but it's a real life solution which could be the beginning of tv industry disruption.

 

[Gaspode67]

Meanwhile the rest of the world gets on with things....

Folks, you *do* realise that for all this discussion, if Apple go down this route it will effectively lock the Apple TV to a single market for the time being, don't you? The rest of us outside the US (and there's a LOT of us) will simply carry on with using the little black box for at best a device to stream our iTunes media library to the TV with *maybe* the occasional rental. That's all it's good for.

 

[voodoojar]

"I'm a cord cutter I only use X for internet" If this statement is true you're not a cord cutter.

Guess what? Comcast makes way more money on internet than they do on video.

 

[sualpine]

 

[kds1]

the live sports all have local team blackouts on apple TV and every other MLB/NBA streaming app. reason is they are only serving the extra sports package and the transplant sports fan market, not the local team market. like if you're living in NYC and you are from detroit and you are still a Tigers fan

Expect the streaming packages to cost A LOT more if they will stream local games

Local team blackouts happen on broadcast TV too.

 

[emjaycee18]

This deal is all smoke and mirrors. Comcast won't deal with Apple on Apple's terms. End compromise well end up being a Watch NBC channel on the Apple TV with possible more content for current Comcast subscribers.

Maybe that's all that Apple wanted in the first place....

 

[Beerstalker]

My guess is this will just be something like the existing XFINITY TV Go app getting released on the AppleTV, and you will have to be an existing Comcast customer to use it, just like you do on the iPad/iPhone.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/xfinity-tv-go/id552293383?mt=8

Not a bad idea, but not exactly groundbreaking. Would probably be pretty nice for people that travel a lot and take their AppleTV with to hook up in hotels.

 

[GoCubsGo]

I am sure it has been said, but isn't Comcast incredibly guilty of throttling users who use Netflix and Hulu?

 

[Limboistik]

For those complaining that this is a terrible deal for consumers.

Look at the bigger picture, would it be wise for Apple to just wrestle its way into the industry and step on all the big player's toes?

When you're trying to get your foot in the door, you don't want to sabotage the rest of your business with these providers.

What do you think would've happened if they came into the mobile market with their own cell towers and network? They would've been stoned to death by AT&T and the likes.

Realistically speaking, only incremental improvements are possible, and this is a step in the right direction.

 

[alent1234]

Local team blackouts happen on broadcast TV too.

lots of regional sports channels in the US that are only on cable
NYC most of the yankees and nets games are on YES
NY Mets and Islanders are on SNY
NY Knicks and Rangers and Red Bulls are on MSG

sure MLB can get rid of local blackouts, but then they have to raise the price of the service and there is probably not enough bandwidth for everyone to watch the games via IP streaming

 

[kds1]

"I'm a cord cutter I only use X for internet" If this statement is true you're not a cord cutter.

That's *********. The term "cord cutting" means not subscribing to cable television.

 

[fithian]

The big bottleneck is the broadband connection. At my location I can get 20Mbps down and 12Mbps up using T-Mobile LTE. The problem is the amount of data that I would use. T-Mobile provides 7GB of data per month with tethering or use of a hotspot device for a cost of $40. While the speeds are pretty good for most home use, the data drops to 2G after 7GB is used. This cap would need to go up substantially to be useful for the home system. My data has averaged about 140GB per month. If a cap of 250GB per month could be offered for $100/month, this would be reasonable. It could also be used anywhere there is LTE. We would go from paying the cable company to paying the cellular company. At that point the Apple TV system would be reasonable.

If Scuzzy Scalia and his buds don't throw out free over-the-air broadcasts, Apple could hook onto that, in addition to premium content.

 

[kds1]

lots of regional sports channels in the US that are only on cable
NYC most of the yankees and nets games are on YES
NY Mets and Islanders are on SNY
NY Knicks and Rangers and Red Bulls are on MSG

sure MLB can get rid of local blackouts, but then they have to raise the price of the service and there is probably not enough bandwidth for everyone to watch the games via IP streaming

They could broadcast those games OTA.

 

[alent1234]

They could broadcast those games OTA.

only if the local affiliates pay for the rights. for the NBA there aren't any games on broadcast TV, all on cable. baseball has some games on broadcast.

and with cable i can easily stream the games to a mobile device instead of buying more TV's

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The big bottleneck is the broadband connection. At my location I can get 20Mbps down and 12Mbps up using T-Mobile LTE. The problem is the amount of data that I would use. T-Mobile provides 7GB of data per month with tethering or use of a hotspot device for a cost of $40. While the speeds are pretty good for most home use, the data drops to 2G after 7GB is used. This cap would need to go up substantially to be useful for the home system. My data has averaged about 140GB per month. If a cap of 250GB per month could be offered for $100/month, this would be reasonable. It could also be used anywhere there is LTE. We would go from paying the cable company to paying the cellular company. At that point the Apple TV system would be reasonable.

If Scuzzy Scalia and his buds don't throw out free over-the-air broadcasts, Apple could hook onto that, in addition to premium content.

cellular can't handle this, it's a less efficient transport mechanism than copper/fiber

 

[Fuzzy Dunlop]

They could broadcast those games OTA.

They could, but why would they? They are making a lot more money with their own networks. They are in the business of making money. The same goes for Comcast and Apple. They aren't a public service.

 

[kds1]

only if the local affiliates pay for the rights. for the NBA there aren't any games on broadcast TV, all on cable. baseball has some games on broadcast.

and with cable i can easily stream the games to a mobile device instead of buying more TV's

We'd all be better off if eventually, Cable TV died. Also, NBA games on the AppleTV app can be streamed on your mobile device using the NBA iOS app

 

[alent1234]

We'd all be better off if eventually, Cable TV died. Also, NBA games on the AppleTV app can be streamed on your mobile device using the NBA iOS app

and they have local blackouts just like the NHL and MLB games. the only league that i know of that doesn't do blackouts is MLS.
i want to watch the local NYC teams, not some other team

this whole cord cutter thing went from people who don't watch a lot of TV to people wanting to cut cable and nickel and dime themselves with 20 other services. netflix is awesome but there is no point streaming live sports when broadcasting it takes less resources

 

[macUser2007]

One way or another comcast and cable companies will get your money.

And why shouldn't they?
They provide the internet, make some of the content and own hulu.

This deal with Comcast and aapl may not be the utopian solution but it's a real life solution which could be the beginning of tv industry disruption.

Nope, it's the beginning of the end for net-neutrality and bodes badly for the myriad of small players and new entrants, as well as for consumers.

The mega players are dividing the market and effectively creating monopolies which will hurt the rest of us.

 

[SHNXX]

Nope, it's the beginning of the end for net-neutrality and bodes badly for the myriad of small players and new entrants, as well as for consumers.



The mega players are dividing the market and effectively creating monopolies which will hurt the rest of us.

But local market only has one choice. It's a regulation issue.
Until cable companies become like common carriers and face competition in individual local markets there will be no change.

Thus what apple is trying is a realistic solution for today

 

[scapegoat81]

the live sports all have local team blackouts on apple TV and every other MLB/NBA streaming app. reason is they are only serving the extra sports package and the transplant sports fan market, not the local team market. like if you're living in NYC and you are from detroit and you are still a Tigers fan

Expect the streaming packages to cost A LOT more if they will stream local games

Not if u pay a couple extra bucks a month for Unblock Us. I subscribed to NHL Gamecenter for the year & haven't missed a Flyers game yet

 

[scapegoat81]

That's not what I've found. I watch plenty of TV. Too much, probably. Here's what I was getting for my money with DirecTV:

My household watches half a dozen network shows per week, shows on Bravo, Lifetime, HGTV (Property Brothers), and A&E (Walking Dead). I watch all the news channels for work. We also have HBO and watch Game of Thrones, Girls, and Boardwalk Empire. Since our promotional period with DirecTV expired a couple months ago, our bill jumped up to $120, or $1,440 per year.

Today, I figured out that almost all those shows are available on Roku and AppleTV (I have both). There are streams for all the news channels and Property Brothers, so I can watch them on my laptop or Airplay them to my AppleTV. The cost of Netflix, Hulu and Amazon Prime, as well as season passes for GoT, Walking Dead, Girls, Boardwalk, and the Lifetime show (which shall remain nameless... too embarrassing) amounts to $481/year.

That's almost $1000 savings. Even when you throw in the $50 digital antenna I'll buy to get local channels. I called DirecTV and canceled.

I'm not even remotely interested in this Comcast deal. The whole point of AppleTV, Roku and the other boxes, for me, is to bypass those cable/satellite bills.

Well put. I really need a MacBook to AirPlay more shows to my ATV 3. I heard there's a lot of content out there directly on the networks websites.
I'm w/ the consensus here w/ the hatred of Comcast. I've been trying to avoid their services in the worst way due to their piss poor service & customer service. Thank god I have another option in my area (Philly suburbs) w/ RCN. They charge me $40/mo for 50m Up/5m Down & couldn't be happier.
I really can't see Apple joining forces w/ them & I hope they do something different. Everyone in this thread seems like their in a panic on what's about to go down. Just sit back & wait to see what pans out. We'll find out shortly.

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"I'm a cord cutter I only use X for internet" If this statement is true you're not a cord cutter.

Guess what? Comcast makes way more money on internet than they do on video.

Someone's jealous they can't yet cut the cord
I think it's been established that we all need internet service thus needing a "cord" coming through our home for service. The term "cord cutter" should be changed to "cable cutter". There. Happy ?

 

[alent1234]

Not if u pay a couple extra bucks a month for Unblock Us. I subscribed to NHL Gamecenter for the year & haven't missed a Flyers game yet

NBA gametime plus MLB TV plus the vpn so i can watch the games on my tv or ipad is almost the price of internet + cable TV

 

[Renzatic]

I am sure it has been said, but isn't Comcast incredibly guilty of throttling users who use Netflix and Hulu?

Allegedly. While there have been a few suspicious hints and signs pointing towards them possibly doing some throttling behind the scenes, I don't think anyone has found definitive proof of it just yet.