Apple is in talks with the broadcast networks and their station affiliates to deliver a live-streaming TV service, the New York Post reported late Monday.
According to the Post, ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC are in discussions with their affiliates about giving live-streaming rights to Apple as part of its new service. Should they jump on board, the networks and their affiliates would share in the new service’s revenue. It’s not as easy as just a revenue share, however, with Apple wanting to reduce by 30% the amount that affiliates would keep should subscribers sign up for the service via the App Store.
How much Apple will charge for the service is undecided. Estimates range from $10 to $40 per month. Comparable services, such as Dish’s Sling TV, cost $20 per month, although adding on premium content can drive those prices up.
That Apple was in talks with networks and local broadcasters was also reported in May by Re/Code.
On Monday, Comcast announced its own live-streaming TV service, which is to be called Stream and cost $15 a month. That service will launch first in Boston, then Chicago and Seattle and then open to the rest of the country in early 2016. Comcast already has retransmission deals in place with broadcast TV providers, making it easier for the broadband behemoth to extend those rights to streaming.
The arrival of over-the-top streaming services or the so-called “skinny bundle” is continuing to put pressure on cable companies to break down their bundles into more consumer-friendly offerings. Up until recently, cable customers were forced to buy large packages of channels, many of which they did not watch. These new services allow consumers to create bundles that more closely reflect which channels they prefer.
Read more at The New York Post, Re/code
Brief take: With all of these streaming services coming on line, the future of the traditional cable bundle remains an interesting question. Will people still subscribe to a service to get hundreds of channels they never watch in the case that they might eventually want to?
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