CBS 'excited' about Apple's rumored web television service, CEO says

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited May 2015
Les Moonves, longtime chief executive of broadcasting giant CBS, said on Wednesday that his company will "probably" sign on to Apple's forthcoming streaming television offering.




During an appearance at Re/code's Code Conference, Moonves indicated that he has met with Apple software and services chief Eddy Cue about the new offering, and said that the two companies are engaged in an "ongoing conversation." There is no word as to the extent of those talks.

"We're very excited about it," Moonves said, referring to Apple's plans.

Apple is thought to be deep into the development of a new live streaming service that would bundle traditional television content for distribution over the internet. Recent reports have suggested that the company would like to include live local broadcasts as well, but is having difficulty securing the requisite content licenses.

Apple could announce the new service, alongside a potentially revamped Apple TV, as soon as next month's Worldwide Developers Conference. Apple CEO Tim Cook will take the stage on June 8 at 10 a.m. Pacific to kick off the annual event.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 23
    pscooter63pscooter63 Posts: 1,080member

    CBS Sports' multi-streaming coverage of The Masters (PGA) has been top-notch for several years now.  If they can maintain that level of quality across the board, more power to 'em.

  • Reply 2 of 23
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    It's interesting that he would say that he's "excited about it". Since they're in negotiations, I would think that he would be a bit more reserved.

    But, this is good, even if he said "probably". That's a negotiating tactic too. I remember that CBS was the last of the networks to have an iOS app, so this is a good sign, and a major reason why Apple is making up the loss from yesterday's overall market fiasco.
  • Reply 3 of 23
    msanttimsantti Posts: 1,377member
    Did hell just freeze over?
  • Reply 4 of 23
    jbdragonjbdragon Posts: 2,305member

    The LAST thing I would ever do is pay Apple $30-$40 a month for some TV package service!!!  At that point might as well sign up with Cable and get more channels.  I'm sure not going to pay CBS the $6 a month they want for their stuff.   I will continue to grab most of my content for FREE with my Antenna!!!! All 100% Legal, in HD and 5.1 surround sound!!!

  • Reply 5 of 23
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,275member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by JBDragon View Post

     

    The LAST thing I would ever do is pay Apple $30-$40 a month for some TV package service!!!  At that point might as well sign up with Cable and get more channels.  I'm sure not going to pay CBS the $6 a month they want for their stuff.   I will continue to grab most of my content for FREE with my Antenna!!!! All 100% Legal, in HD and 5.1 surround sound!!!


    Glad an antenna works for you and allows you to get what you would watch. Antenna doesn't work for many people and offers very limited content to many.

  • Reply 6 of 23
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    jbdragon wrote: »
    The LAST thing I would ever do is pay Apple $30-$40 a month for some TV package service!!!  At that point might as well sign up with Cable and get more channels.  I'm sure not going to pay CBS the $6 a month they want for their stuff.   I will continue to grab most of my content for FREE with my Antenna!!!! All 100% Legal, in HD and 5.1 surround sound!!!

    I don't use an antenna but I do agree with you. I don't see what the big deal is about a skinny down cable package over the internet. Most likely it's going to be missing a channel I watch frequently. I might as well then just pay for traditional cable or satellite. Right now I have DirecTV service which has an iOS app that even allows some channels to stream live over the internet. The number of channels right now is limited but I'm sure if DirecTV had the rights to offer them all they would. I hope Apple is keeping all the good stuff about ?TV a secret as what we've heard about so far is a big yawn.
  • Reply 7 of 23
    ceek74ceek74 Posts: 324member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by msantti View Post



    Did hell just freeze over?

     

    My thoughts exactly.

  • Reply 8 of 23
    pmcdpmcd Posts: 396member
    It's not about money. Costs will still be similar within a couple of hundred per year. The hope is that the experience via iptv might be better, especially as relates to ads. If it's just cable stations moved over to the ATV ads and all then what's the point? The cable people would just jack up network costs, you'd end up paying the same or more and a chance to really change TV would have been lost. People have been leaving cable recently for a variety of reasons. One of those is you have 500 channels with very little worth watching, except for sports' enthusiasts.
  • Reply 9 of 23
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    What's stopping Giggle and Sammy from copy-pasting Apple's hard work?

    I hope Apple plays hard this time and signs exclusives deals.
  • Reply 10 of 23
    libertyforalllibertyforall Posts: 1,418member
    How about SyFy & FOX News, they are both notable absent from ATV. Not to mention Amazon!
  • Reply 11 of 23
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    How about SyFy & FOX News, they are both notable absent from ATV. Not to mention Amazon!

    What's the difference between SyFy and Fox News??
  • Reply 12 of 23
    What everyone is forgetting is that streaming will offer a lot better PQ than what cable provides by the time they have over compressed all the channels in order to give you the 300 unwanted ones in the first place.

    Netflix PQ is better than Rogers here in Canada. I'm sure Apple's offerings will also be better.
  • Reply 13 of 23
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    sog35 wrote: »
    Advantages of Apple TV over cable/dish:

    1. Cheaper.  If you have 3-4 cable boxes you will be saving anywhere from 40-60% a month

    2. Better interface.  Cable user interfaces are ridiculously bad.  They are stuck in the 90's.  Every tried to type in a search?  Ridiculous.

    3. Mobile use.  With TimeWarner I can only watch crap channels on my iPad.  If I'm not using my home wifi I can't watch any channels. With ATV you will be able to watch everything everywhere.

    4. Better DVR service on the cloud.  I keep running out of space on my dvr.  Even worse every year my DVR crashes and I lose everything.

    Exactly, OMG the interface on traditional TV cable or network is a nightmare One day soon, hopefully, the very concept of 'live TV' as in 'your weekly show at 8 p.m.' will be gone. The Netflix or Amazon Prime streaming is the only way to go. Give me the whole season right away, the only decision need be 'to binge or not to binge'. It's not as if these series are made weekly!

    Local recording is archaic for most folks these days and as to 'live' ... The only use I can see for so called live TV is breaking news, weather and such like. Plus, give users the choice to pay (like Netflix model) with no ads or free with ads.
  • Reply 14 of 23
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    cali wrote: »
    What's the difference between SyFy and Fox News??

    What a question! The difference? SyFy (Sci-Fi) shows admit it is all made up! :D
  • Reply 15 of 23
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    jbdragon wrote: »
    The LAST thing I would ever do is pay Apple $30-$40 a month for some TV package service!!!  At that point might as well sign up with Cable and get more channels.  I'm sure not going to pay CBS the $6 a month they want for their stuff.   I will continue to grab most of my content for FREE with my Antenna!!!! All 100% Legal, in HD and 5.1 surround sound!!!

    For $6 a month you get a lot more than just the OTA broadcast.
  • Reply 16 of 23
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    Exactly, OMG the interface on traditional TV cable or network is a nightmare One day soon, hopefully, the very concept of 'live TV' as in 'your weekly show at 8 p.m.' will be gone.

    Not quite. Many shows are now incorporating social media as they air. You'll be surprised how many people tweet as The Walking Dead is airing. It's literally a huge viewing party, but from the comfort of your home. There's actually people on the west coast that watch the east coast feed just to take part of it.
  • Reply 17 of 23
    quinneyquinney Posts: 2,528member
    cali wrote: »
    What's the difference between SyFy and Fox News??

    What a question! The difference? SyFy (Sci-Fi) shows admit it is all made up! :D

    Plus you might see a little science on SyFy.
  • Reply 18 of 23
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    quinney wrote: »
    Plus you might see a little science on SyFy.

    That's very true, look how much of Star Trek's imaginings ended up not only coming to be but also lead scientists to try to make it so Number One.
  • Reply 19 of 23
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    dasanman69 wrote: »
    Not quite. Many shows are now incorporating social media as they air. You'll be surprised how many people tweet as The Walking Dead is airing. It's literally a huge viewing party, but from the comfort of your home. There's actually people on the west coast that watch the east coast feed just to take part of it.

    So what stops this from happening by a joint agreement to all watch the stream at the same time? They need to be limited by a cable company to the time? That seems a little zombie esque ... oh wait a minute ... :D
  • Reply 20 of 23
    msanttimsantti Posts: 1,377member
    Well, one could save on the BS "HD" fee and the rental fees on the boxes.

    Granted, you will need a Apple TV but that should not cost much and is a 1 time up front cost.
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