Neil Hughes
The main hold-up in Apple launching a subscription TV service is content rights, with a new report on Friday saying the company could again face delays as it seeks to include live, local network television stations.
Network broadcasts are freely available through the use of an old-fashioned, over-the-air antenna. But the rights to streaming those very same broadcasts over public airways aren't so simple.
That appears to be one of the major stumbling blocks for Apple as it looks to launch a subscription TV service, according to Re/code. Reporters Peter Kafka and Dawn Chmielewski said on Friday that Apple may not be able to launch its service this fall, as originally intended, because of issues in negotiations with content owners.
Still, the service appears to be a matter of "when," not "if," as TV executives reportedly indicated they believe money is the main sticking point between the industry and Apple.
But at the moment, it's not believed that any content owners have officially signed up for Apple's rumored service. That means it's unlikely that it will be announced alongside an anticipated new Apple TV set-top box at next month's Worldwide Developers Conference.
According to the report, Apple not only wants to have access to local broadcast TV, but also on a wide scale, across the U.S. Doing so will be a challenge, as even ABC itself reportedly spent two years obtaining the rights to live broadcasting for just eight cities with its Watch ABC app, available for devices like the iPhone and iPad.
Reports from earlier this year indicated Apple was looking to charge a base price of between $30 and $40 per month for its anticipated subscription TV service. Including widespread access to local network stations would be a key differentiator from competing services like Dish's Sling TV or Sony's Vue.
It's been claimed that Apple is in talks with broadcast networks ABC, CBS and Fox, as well as other cable networks owned by Viacom and Discovery, though apparently talks have stalled with Comcast-owned NBC.
As for the new Apple TV set-top box, a major revamp of the hardware is expected when WWDC kicks off on June 8. Rumors have said the new Apple TV will feature an A8 processor, a dedicated App Store, Siri voice controls, and a new touchpad controller.
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41 Comments
Correct me if I'm wrong, but Dish Network offers most local channels in their packages these days. Clearly it can be done (though I recall it did take time to add them all). I would think you could start with at least one major city group of flagship stations to represent every time zone and then build from there.
Here's an idea. Apple has your mailing address and everything else about you from your Itunes account. Why not just stream whatever the local commercials are for that area to you. Done fixed!! I can't wait to see all those crappy locally produced Medford commercials again, that I have been "missing" since I disconnected tv 5 years ago.
Local stations are forced by the FCC. You cant required cable services to have local feeds and at the same time have content owners block them. Either Apple is required and the content owners are force to STFU, or Apple is not required to carry local stations...
[quote name="TheWhiteFalcon" url="/t/186387/apple-wants-subscription-tv-service-to-include-live-local-broadcasts-content-rights-remain-roadblock#post_2726135"]Correct me if I'm wrong, but Dish Network offers most local channels in their packages these days. Clearly it can be done (though I recall it did take time to add them all). I would think you could start with at least one major city group of flagship stations to represent every time zone and then build from there.[/quote] I'm with you. I have every local broadcast on my DirecTV service in LA, including stations I didn't even know existed. I believe this is true for every local TV station based on a customers registered zip code. I'd love to know more about what these streaming limitations are. I could stream all of my local stations through my Time Warner account as well, so maybe it has to do with the licenses that ABC and others have already granted to the cable and satellite operators. The problem with offering a single major city is that none of the local advertising gets to its intended viewers, which is why I think DirecTV in particular offers all of them now. Perhaps this is part of the problem ABC faces as well, offering all of those local streams dependent on a customers location.
Why can't Apple just build a digital antennae into the box...they're pretty small these days? The OS can then automatically handle getting the feed from that source in the background when you switch to that channel.