Apple has delayed plans for a live streaming TV option until sometime in 2016.
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The source, who doesn’t want to be identified because talks are private, told Bloomberg that Apple’s negotiations to license programming from TV networks owned by CBS Corp. and 21st Century Fox, Inc.is progressing slowly.
While the live TV aspect will have to wait, Apple is still expected to launch a next generation of its Apple TV next month, alongside the iPhone 6s.
The company has postponed its plans to launch its new Internet TV service. Munster says this is because Apple is still talking turkey with content providers, still in the midst of negotiations with nothing finalized. That is roughly half of the average cable bill in the United States. In the note, Munster said that he puts the chances of seeing the TV service debut at 50-50. Apple is also anxious that it does not yet have the computer network capacity in place to ensure a quality viewing experience for the user, the report claims.
The company was said to have planned to announce the service during an event in San Francisco on September 9. The Wall Street Journal reported in March that the service would offer programming from about 25 channels, including major networks ABC, CBS and Fox, that would be available on all devices running Apple’s iOS operating system, including the Apple TV. Apple intended to keep the price of its offering as low as $40 (this is nearly 50% less than the prices charged by existing cable and satellite TV partners).
The current Apple TV already supports several authenticated TV apps, which require pay TV subscriptions, as well Showtime’s recently launched standalone OTT service and HBO Now.
Bloomberg also said that Apple still hasn’t worked out an efficient technology scheme for streaming high-definition video to a customer base dispersed all over the U.S.
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Although television streaming is widely believed to be the next step in Apple’s growing catalog of paid online services, the delays underscore the struggle of working out contracts with content providers.
