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| Could Apple become the next Comcast? | Could Apple become the next Comcast? |
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| Television viewers have long yearned for the day they could get their favorite programs streamed online without having to pay a huge cable bill each month. That day has arrived — and it’s confusing. | Television viewers have long yearned for the day they could get their favorite programs streamed online without having to pay a huge cable bill each month. That day has arrived — and it’s confusing. |
| There’s the new Sling TV, starting at $20 a month, which offers channels like ESPN and HGTV. Then there’s a CBS app for $6 a month with network shows. HBO is spinning out its offerings into a new streaming service called HBO Now for $15 a month. Add on top of all that older options like Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime. | There’s the new Sling TV, starting at $20 a month, which offers channels like ESPN and HGTV. Then there’s a CBS app for $6 a month with network shows. HBO is spinning out its offerings into a new streaming service called HBO Now for $15 a month. Add on top of all that older options like Hulu, Netflix and Amazon Prime. |
| There is one powerful company, though, trying to clear up all the confusion later this year: Apple. | |
| [Related: HBO’s streaming service launches first on Apple devices] | [Related: HBO’s streaming service launches first on Apple devices] |
| Apple is in negotiations with major TV networks to bring a package of 25 channels to users of its devices for about $30 to $40 a month, as first reported by the Wall Street Journal and Re/Code. Apple’s TV package could be available as early as September and include Walt Disney’s ABC and ESPN, CBS and Fox. Add HBO Now, which will be available to Apple users for $15 a month starting in April, and the tech giant could have the most complete streaming offering of live popular TV shows and movies yet. | |
| If it succeeds, Apple could become the biggest gateway to online video — the new Comcast for the Internet. And it has more cash on hand than any of its rivals to secure the most-desired shows. | If it succeeds, Apple could become the biggest gateway to online video — the new Comcast for the Internet. And it has more cash on hand than any of its rivals to secure the most-desired shows. |
| But there are also risks attached to Apple’s play. Consumers who still want to pay separately for Netflix or other channels may face a total monthly cost rivaling what they used to pay their cable companies—wiping away the potential savings of cutting the cord. And in the end, viewers could be simply trading one kind of bundle for another one. | |
| When Apple chief executive Tim Cook announced the HBO Now deal earlier this month, he said, “Apple TV will reinvent the way that you watch television, and this is just the beginning.” | When Apple chief executive Tim Cook announced the HBO Now deal earlier this month, he said, “Apple TV will reinvent the way that you watch television, and this is just the beginning.” |
| The decline of traditional television has been years in the making, but it has dramatically accelerated in recent months. The cable business is at its weakest point in years. Subscriptions have declined, and new federal rules protecting net neutrality limit the ability of companies like Comcast to charge other firms more for faster streaming to viewers. Meanwhile, watching television through streaming services like Netflix and Amazon has become mainstream — reaching 40 percent of U.S. homes, according to Nielsen. | The decline of traditional television has been years in the making, but it has dramatically accelerated in recent months. The cable business is at its weakest point in years. Subscriptions have declined, and new federal rules protecting net neutrality limit the ability of companies like Comcast to charge other firms more for faster streaming to viewers. Meanwhile, watching television through streaming services like Netflix and Amazon has become mainstream — reaching 40 percent of U.S. homes, according to Nielsen. |
| All that pressure is causing the biggest networks to reconsider their allegiance to the cable industry, which for years has provided the channels the vast majority of their revenues through licensing fees. Cable stocks dropped sharply Tuesday on the reports of Apple’s streaming plans. | All that pressure is causing the biggest networks to reconsider their allegiance to the cable industry, which for years has provided the channels the vast majority of their revenues through licensing fees. Cable stocks dropped sharply Tuesday on the reports of Apple’s streaming plans. |
| “The writing was on the wall, and there has been a huge watershed moment over the last year with major networks quickly unbundling from cable companies,” said Brian White, an analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald. | “The writing was on the wall, and there has been a huge watershed moment over the last year with major networks quickly unbundling from cable companies,” said Brian White, an analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald. |
| That’s ushered in a new wave of players in the massive TV landscape, from Facebook’s partnership with the NFL and ABC’s “World News Tonight” to Snapchat’s short videos from ESPN and Comedy Central. Apple, which has flirted for years with the idea of a TV service, has drawn great interest, with potential to transform video entertainment in the same way it did with music through its iTunes store. | That’s ushered in a new wave of players in the massive TV landscape, from Facebook’s partnership with the NFL and ABC’s “World News Tonight” to Snapchat’s short videos from ESPN and Comedy Central. Apple, which has flirted for years with the idea of a TV service, has drawn great interest, with potential to transform video entertainment in the same way it did with music through its iTunes store. |
| When Apple co-founder Steve Jobs introduced the iTunes store and iPod music player in 2001, the company upended the music industry by offering individual songs instead of entire albums. That led to a surge in digital music purchases and helped support the industry in its battle to combat music piracy. | When Apple co-founder Steve Jobs introduced the iTunes store and iPod music player in 2001, the company upended the music industry by offering individual songs instead of entire albums. That led to a surge in digital music purchases and helped support the industry in its battle to combat music piracy. |
| [Related: Steve Jobs once said, ‘Apple will never make a TV again.’] | [Related: Steve Jobs once said, ‘Apple will never make a TV again.’] |
| A streaming television could be Apple’s next big act, giving the company entry into a new media field that could help it sell more hardware, such as the Apple TV device, iPads and iPhones. | A streaming television could be Apple’s next big act, giving the company entry into a new media field that could help it sell more hardware, such as the Apple TV device, iPads and iPhones. |
| Analysts think the company could also introduce an entirely new TV product that would run the company’s operating system and feature its voice-recognition service, Siri. | |
| “Apple wants to transform the entire TV experience, and this would be one piece of the puzzle,” White said. “We expect a full-blown new Apple TV that pulls on the company’s entire ecosystem.” | “Apple wants to transform the entire TV experience, and this would be one piece of the puzzle,” White said. “We expect a full-blown new Apple TV that pulls on the company’s entire ecosystem.” |
| The move into video entertainment is a direct shot at rivals Amazon and Google, companies that have invested billions of dollars into their streaming services. | The move into video entertainment is a direct shot at rivals Amazon and Google, companies that have invested billions of dollars into their streaming services. |
| “Apple is a strong brand and does things beautifully. Their number one goal is to sell devices, not to be a big player in video and so they don’t expect to make a big profit in this service,” said Deana Myer, an analyst at SNL Kagan. | “Apple is a strong brand and does things beautifully. Their number one goal is to sell devices, not to be a big player in video and so they don’t expect to make a big profit in this service,” said Deana Myer, an analyst at SNL Kagan. |
| Yet the firm will enter an already crowded space. Dish’s Sling TV launched in February with 17 channels, most notably including ESPN. On Wednesday Sony began the rollout of its streaming service for users of its PlayStation consoles, with dozens of programming networks for $49.99 a month. | |
| In the end, the future of TV may begin to look a little like the past. Channels are being bundled into packages again, albeit smaller and cheaper for now. | |
| “What all these services have in common is that they are all simply re-aggregations of traditional cable and broadcast networks,” Craig Moffett, an analyst at Moffett Nathanson Research, wrote in a report this week, saying that the true revolution in TV may still be a ways off. “The millennial cord cutter isn’t waiting around for just the right package of cable channels that only their parents watch.” | |
| Read more: | Read more: |
| Sling TV launches nationwide, adds AMC | Sling TV launches nationwide, adds AMC |
| 3 things to know about HBO’s new streaming service | 3 things to know about HBO’s new streaming service |
| Read the news right away or it’s gone: CNN, ESPN push for Snapchat users | Read the news right away or it’s gone: CNN, ESPN push for Snapchat users |