Roger Fingas
Amazon's Channels program — which allows Prime subscribers to sign up for otherwise separate video services through a single platform — is proving surprisingly popular with streaming partners, and could evolve into a live TV service before Apple reaches that point, a report hinted on Tuesday.
In its first year Channels has been a real success, Amazon video VP Michael Paull told The Information. Networks and services were originally said to be skeptical about partnering with a competitor, but some of them now count Amazon as their biggest avenue for selling subscriptions.
Evan Shapiro, an executive with NBCUniversal, commented that Amazon has done a particularly good job marketing to customers who want to keep all their billing and consumption within Prime. As an added bonus, Channels is said to make it possible to deploy to new platforms faster.
Notably, Amazon has also reportedly been talking to TV networks about creating a bundle of live TV channels, similar to Sling TV or PlayStation Vue. Paull refused to comment on the topic, but argued that he doesn't see Amazon as luring cord-cutters away from cable.
Apple has been rumored to be working on a live TV service for years, but has so far failed to gain any traction in talks with service providers. This may be because of hardline negotiation tactics, including low-balling potential partners — even Disney, with which Apple has close corporate ties.
Charles Martin
Malcolm Owen
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31 Comments
Why the hell would a cable like experience be good, swapping one bill for another, except that co collects my shopping history
the he article is full of mays and looks like pr stock pump play
Poor Apple. I'm not going back to cable. Sorry. I'll just use hulu and netflix. I don't even watch TV like that. i have the shows I like and thats it.
I really see no need for Apple to provide the service directly. Providing the platform is good enough. They really don't need to jump into every arena just because they can or someone else has decided to.
I thought google was supposed to beat Apple with a tv service...this same story has been going on for the last two years
I live in an area where OTA reception of local channels is very weak. Unless I can get my local channels I am simply not interested in any Internet TV service. I will keep my basic cable service and maybe Hulu and Netflix. That’s it.