AppleInsider Staff
Adding to a series of Apple TV ads released earlier this week, Apple on Wednesday posted a new commercial featuring ABC's app, with a little help from the Muppets.
The spot, titled "ABC on Apple TV," features a 15-second slice of Up Late with Miss Piggy, a fictional late night show from ABC's new series The Muppets.
Kermit the Frog, donning a pair of headphones in his role as the show's executive producer, is seen bantering backstage with Fozzie Bear, who is about to take the stage as Miss Piggy's hype man/cohost. Fozzie tells Kermit, "you're the man," to which Kermit replies, "no, you're the man." The morale boosting back-and-forth quickly turns into an argument, hilarity ensues.
ABC is a marquee streaming and on-demand viewing app for Apple TV's new App Store. At launch, the fourth-generation Apple TV featured apps from the "big four" U.S. broadcast networks including NBC, Fox and CBS.
On Tuesday, Apple aired five similar Apple TV ads promoting subscription-based content consumption titles like Netflix and HBO Now, as well as games Crossy Road, Disney Infinity 3.0 Edition and Asphalt 8. The company is positioning the Apple TV App Store, loaded with software running on the new tvOS platform, as a key differentiator in its bid for the living room.
Apple's fourth-generation set-top box launched in October priced at $149 with 32GB of onboard storage and $199 for 64GB.
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Chip Loder
Malcolm Owen
14 Comments
Nice idea. More commercials please.
Commercials are great, but more apps please
Can you purchase the abc app without a cable subscription?
Unless the app updated in the last 48 hours, no. I've been using the ATV V4 since release day. Gotta say overall I love it Hoping some things change though. I just signed up for Time Warners "internet Only" Basic Cable package to test it out. It also came with a free Roku 3 so for $10/ month why the hell not? I was able to plug my info into the individual apps with various results. CBS and NBC unlocked, Fox unlocked but the most recent episodes remain locked on some shows. ABC would not unlock at all on TWC. So unless they go web only subscription I'll find it hard to get access to their content. CBS can be had for a fee without subscription or with a subscription . ABC's news app is top notch.
Here's the rub. The most recent episodes are available on the TWC app streaming and on demand and there is a TWC app for iPhones pads etc, but no app for ATV. Hope that changes soon because Roku's interface is a big kludge and all I really need is the TWC App and maybe better unlock access to content. (Maybe a call to customer service will help me clear that up?) Hoping to get rid of HULU and trade it info the big four at $10 and gain a few bonuses like streaming local news and pay for premium content via app (HBO) or downloading from iTunes for the 3 or 4 shows I really enjoy and want to have "on file" anyway.
Hey Apple, any progress on being able to use the Watch/iPhone/iPad remote, or has that been abandoned?