Apple in Talks With Content Providers for Web-Based TV Service

[CairnsRock]

Do we really need another "Netflix" type service though? What if there ends up being a lot of exclusive content for each of the major players? Then, you'd have to subscribe to Netflix, Hulu, Apple tv, sling TV, Amazon prime, and whatever other ones come out to play. Add that all up and the hassle.... And suddenly the cord cutting isn't so great anymore.

I've been cord fee for almost ten years now. We have Hulu plus and Netflix along with a roof antenna and have plenty to watch. What I don't want to see is too many exclusives with content. That'd suck.

Just hope this goes the right way.

Agreed. Have they really spent all this time to "get it right", then just go ahead and copy what Netflix has been doing for years.

 

[jdawgnoonan]

I would buy an Apple TV that offered that.

 

[samcraig]

Not so much a flaw as a point I didn't go into in detail. .

Yes. I was challenged to find the appropriate word. The omission, to me stuck out

 

[ThisIsNotMe]

Are you the same guy from the other thread who is convinced music is dead because video exists?

How can you fail to see - as with radio, CDs, iTunes and now streaming that music is not dead, but a separate entity from video?

As something to be monetized, yes, the Spotify model has killed the music business.

 

[SockRolid]

... aiming to wedge itself between cable companies and consumers by designing a set-top box that would play live television in lieu of a traditional cable box.

The current Apple TV box already does "play live television."
iTunes Festival has been around for years, with flawless live concert streaming.
And, as important as live TV is, pre-recorded on-demand content is crucial.

 

[AppleScruff1]

You think the rental pricing being that high is Apple's doing? It's quite clear the studios have been greedy for years. I myself think if all films were $5 and included all the extra content at a great quality lots of people who torrent would choose to pay: for convenience, great quality and out of respect for being charged a fair price for those bits of entertainment data. And the studios would make a lot more money in the long run too I'd bet. But rest assured they have no intention of thinking sensibly about this.

So everyone is greedy except Apple. They have the consumers best interest at heart. I just don't understand why the studios won't cut their profits so that Apple can take the lion's share.

 

[thekeyring]

As something to be monetized, yes, the Spotify model has killed the music business.

There is always room for a competitor. Look at Apple Maps: Most agree a terrible product yet it has stolen market share away from Google by being default in iOS.

Most agree Beats Music isn't a terrible product - and hopefully is being made better and cheaper. It will be integrated into iOS and will be on Android, too.

Quite a strong competition, if you ask me. Certainly not a "dead" field as you said it was.

Plus, look at public interest in iTunes vs Spotify: http://www.google.co.uk/trends/explore?q=iTunes#q=iTunes, Spotify&cmpt=q&tz=

It's not like iTunes has faded into irrelevance, is it?

 

[Robin4]

I think we will hear lots more about this after February 26th when the FCC votes on who will control the Internet and if companies are allowed to throttle speeds to interfere with the competition.

Until then I have been trying Sling TV and I am impressed. ESPN, ESPN2, TBS, TNT and other channels work flawlessly. Obviously ESPN is now willing to join the mayhem, that's good at least in my sports-minded family. $20.00 and no contract sounds like a good deal. There are drawbacks of course, only one TV, or tablet or iPhone can be used at a time.

I think cable and the Internet are going through lots of changes, who knows which company will survive and thrive. If Apple is willing to go for it, why not?
They' ve got the money, the brains. More power to them!

 

[s2mikey]

Because their app just flat out sucks. They purposely mix free prime content with paid for content. I don't want to see paid, I want to see what I'm getting for free with my prime account. Navigation is horrible too. And their content in nearly identical to Netflix, at least for content my family and I watch.

I agree. I like prime because of the free two day shipping and other kindle perks but the streaming is a litle dodgy. The mixed paid and free TV seasons thing drives us nuts. They have some cool shows and whatever but it's hard to sift through it all versus Hulu or Netflix.

Another point to make is that some people here are claiming that if you cut your cable and just use Internet service that the price difference is fairly small due to the bundling deals. Not true at all. I have RoadRunner Ultimate and cut the cable "cord" about 8 years ago. We've saved literally thousands and thousands of dollars. How? Here's how:

1) the cable package we had was all inclusive so it was an easy $90 bucks a month.
2) the cable box rental fees. We had three boxes so that was another $12 bucks a month.
3) there was a remote control fee too. $3 bucks a month added to the bill
4) more taxes due to higher overall bill.

Even with the bundled discount, we are still saving a good $75 bucks a month. That's a lot and it adds up. Our other TV services like Netflix, Hulu plus and roof antenna cost a total of about $18 a month.

I'm way ahead and much happier.

 

[Count Blah]

Hopefully this comes with an updated appleTV, with an SDK. Why apple has totally ignored AppleTV and the app possibilities is beyond me.

 

[Nightarchaon]

If Plex and Fire TV works for you then what's your problem?

My Problem is that for the titles i OWN through iTunes (Some TV series and Movies) i cannot play them via plex,

So my choice is, use apple TV and scroll miles to get to a show, or use two devices and two librarys..

This could easily be fixed if apple got off its ass and made a small coding change so that shows were listed "Show --> Season --> Episodes" instead of the current "Season --> Episodes" that they are now , Also the ability to create Franchise "folders" in movies, so i can put all the starwars, fast and the furious, indiana jones etc etc into a single folder which again, would reduce the scrolling list of doom.

These are not huge changes code wise, i really don't understand why they haven't been included in an update already.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

This could easily be fixed if apple got off its ass and made a small coding change so that shows were listed "Show --> Season --> Episodes" instead of the current "Season --> Episodes" that they are now , Also the ability to create Franchise "folders" in movies, so i can put all the starwars, fast and the furious, indiana jones etc etc into a single folder which again, would reduce the scrolling list of doom

This is how it was in the first-generation TV. Then Apple decided to "fix it" in subsequent models.

I still believe the best TV UI was the final incarnation of the first generation box. Along with the "show" tag niceties you list, our own movies could be found under "movies", not "computers"... our own "tv shows" could be found under "tv shows", not "computers", etc. But again, Apple knows best. How they want to serve it is how we ALL should want it.

I'd love to merge that final gen 1 UI with the 1080p gen 3 hardware. I know there's Plex and similar but they have their own issues- some referenced within this same thread.

 

[scapegoat81]

Not sure how it's called cutting the cable if you still have the cable running in to your house to your cable modem to get broadband access.

HBO is going to be launching Go as a standalone service soon. Maybe their success (or failure) will inspire others to make similar moves (or not).

It's called cutting the cable. Not cutting the Ethernet.

 

[viorelgn]

That's the problem with "smart tv's" People don't want to upgrade their several thousand dollar sets on a two year cycle to keep up with hardware updates. And they shouldn't need to. There's very little logic in bundling the chips with the set, and it makes a LOT more sense having a 'smart box' to plug into a 'dumb tv' than to have a full on 'smart tv'.

 

[scapegoat81]

You think the rental pricing being that high is Apple's doing? It's quite clear the studios have been greedy for years. I myself think if all films were $5 and included all the extra content at a great quality lots of people who torrent would choose to pay: for convenience, great quality and out of respect for being charged a fair price for those bits of entertainment data. And the studios would make a lot more money in the long run too I'd bet. But rest assured they have no intention of thinking sensibly about this.

Eg. Louis CK has been putting out his comedy stand up specials on his website for $5. Every few years, he'll put a new one up. I purchase them every time

 

[scapegoat81]

Sounds good for people who don't have to get their broadband through their cable company. I looked into cutting the chord last year and Xfinity would actually charge me $75 a month for Internet only service, versus the $120 a month I pay now. Not worth the hassle of cutting the chord - especially considering how much TV I watch. It'd be nice if there was competition where I am, but I can't even get DSL Service in my apartment complex. It sucks.

That happened to me 2 years ago when I cut it out. Verizon wanted roughly $80/mo for Internet only. You have to call their bluff & go elsewhere, if you can. I was lucky enough to have a third ISP in my area alongside Comcast & Verizon. Signed up for $40/mo net only plan w/ RCN

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This seems to be something everyone forgets about. You may pay $120 for internet and TV now, but if you want to keep the same internet speeds the company will charge you ~$80 for internet only. Then you are going to subscribe to netflix, HBO, Showtime, etc. and be right back to your $120 if not more.

That's when you flip them the bird & go elsewhere, IF you can. I did & got down to $40/mo net only

 

[d21mike]

Do we really need another "Netflix" type service though? What if there ends up being a lot of exclusive content for each of the major players? Then, you'd have to subscribe to Netflix, Hulu, Apple tv, sling TV, Amazon prime, and whatever other ones come out to play. Add that all up and the hassle.... And suddenly the cord cutting isn't so great anymore.

I've been cord fee for almost ten years now. We have Hulu plus and Netflix along with a roof antenna and have plenty to watch. What I don't want to see is too many exclusives with content. That'd suck.

Just hope this goes the right way.

You make an excellent point. It is already happening. My problem has always been the hardware cost not the content cost. I really do not expect to save money. I just want a better experience.

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Apple's products aren't cheap per say, so I am wondering how this new service would be any cheaper than a comparable cable deal. I guess we will wait and see.

I understand what you are saying but not always. Read about the Beats Music Service expected to start.

https://www.macrumors.com/2015/02/04/apple-new-beats-music-service/

Apple's new subscription-based service is expected to cost $7.99 per month, cheaper than the $9.99 per month charged by Beats Music and competing services such as Spotify, Rdio and Google Play Music.

 

[viorelgn]

I’d rather give my money to Apple than Directv any day. If Apple gets ESPN, it is a no brainer for me.

 

[scapegoat81]

IMO, given the delay in updating their "hobby", they have lost this market for now. Like many here, I grew tired of waiting for them to update the hardware and that god awful interface and provide something new and fresh AND finally give us the App Store. Well, I switched to Amazon's FireTV which pretty much does just about everything I wanted. Plex, Netlfix, Prime, games, music, rentals and so forth.

This market is pretty cramped right now and unless they release something that totally blows away the Fire, it's not going to take off like they think. I really, REALLY wanted the ATV to be THE center of all my content since I'm committed to the ecosystem. But there's only so long I'll wait for this. We'll see what (if anything) comes out of these latest rumors.

-K

I feel the exact same way. I'm so tempted right now to get an Amazon Fire tv box but I know as soon as I do, Apple will come out of nowhere with an ATV refresh. Patience is a virtue