Apple's long-rumored TV streaming service reportedly put 'on hold'
Apple’s long-rumored Web-based TV streaming service is said to have been put on the back burner.
That’s according to Les Moonves, the CEO of CBS, one of Apple’s potential partners on the service. Speaking at the Business Insider Ignition conference earlier today, Moonves said that Apple has put its plans for the service “on hold.”
No TV streaming service from Apple anytime soonMoonves’ claim is corroborated by a new report by Bloomberg. “Apple Inc. has suspended plans to offer a live Internet-based television service,” the report says, “according to a person with knowledge of the matter.”
Apple is said to be working on a service that would offer a package of around 14 TV channels for $30 to $40 a month, much less than the $85 usually charged for a conventional pay-TV bundle. But according to Bloomberg’s source, it “has run into resistance from media companies that want more money for their programming.”
For now, there’s Apple TV’s App StoreNews of the fabled streaming service surfaced earlier this year, and Apple was later reported to be working on unveiling the service at its Worldwide Developer Conference in June or at its iPhone 6s media event in September. But the service was then reported to have been pushed back for launch sometime next year because of stalled negotiations with content providers.
In the meantime, Bloomberg reports, Apple is refocusing its efforts on encouraging media companies to build apps to distribute their content through Apple TV, the fourth and latest generation of which was released in late October with a starting price of $149.
Powered by Apple’s new tvOS, the set-top box now offers an App Store that allows users to download apps, which Apple believes are “the future of television.”