Apple pauses plan for online TV service
Apple has paused plans to launch its own service that streams live TV over the Internet.
The temporary stop will see the technology business focus its attention on getting media companies to push and sell their content through its set-top service Apple TV. CBS chief executive Les Moonves revealed the plan at the Business Insider Ignition conference yesterday (8 December).
"They've had conversations on it, and I think they pressed the hold button," he added. Apple was rumoured to have been prepping the service for 2016 and had reportedly met with Hollywood executives to help fund its content drive.
Moonves then shed light on how CBS' own deal would have been structured. Users would have been asked to pay between $30 and $40 a month for a several channels that they could watch via their Apple TV set-top box without having to pay for a cable subscription.
While the reasons for the service's delay are unclear, it's worth noting the complexity in striking deals in an increasingly fragmented mediascape, particularly when TV companies know they can hold out for better terms with Apple. Dish and Sony debuted their online TV services earlier this year and Amazon has been tipped to be moving into the space sometime soon.