Samsung may beat Apple to the punch with global live TV subscription service

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited May 2016
Samsung Electronics has begun talks with entertainment companies to sell an online TV service, potentially beating to market Apple, whose own talks to offer a subscription video content plan have apparently stalled.




Anonymous sources indicated to Bloomberg that the South Korean electronics maker has asked media companies how much they would charge to carry their TV networks in a bundle of channels over the web. Samsung is said to be tentatively exploring whether it could offer the bundle on a global basis, instead of just in the U.S.

If its plans come to fruition, Samsung would join a crowded field of tech companies -- so far with little success -- to compete with traditional TV providers like Comcast and AT&T. Two of the most prominent cord cutting streaming services with live cable channels are Sling TV and PlayStation Vue.

Samsung already has a presence in the living room, and the company's connected TVs could serve as a strong launching point for the rumored service. Samsung issued a statement saying it aims to collaborate with content partners, not compete with them.

For its part, Apple is rumored to have been working behind the scenes on a streaming subscription TV service, but has met resistance from content owners. The main sticking point was said to be Apple's pursuit of a "skinny" channel bundle, featuring just the most popular channels for less than $30 per month. Content owners reportedly balked at that plan, insistent on bundling a variety of channels from their lineups.

For now, Apple is said to be focusing on building out the newly launched tvOS App Store as a platform on which media companies can sell directly to consumers. The new living room-focused App Store is exclusive the fourth-generation Apple TV set-top box.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 37
    NY1822NY1822 Posts: 621member
    "they asked how much they would charge"...lol 
    nolamacguyintrepidfosterwonkothesane
  • Reply 2 of 37
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    Samsung willing to scrape pennies for market share.

    i say Apple invest billions in an exclusive movie/TV/Game studio and destroy these scumbags. 
    intrepidfostermagman1979
  • Reply 3 of 37
    applesauce007applesauce007 Posts: 1,698member
    That does not matter.
    If the user experience sucks, it will be DOA.
    TV-OS already rocks and is about to become a lot better at WWDC. 2016.
    intrepidfostermagman1979patchythepirate
  • Reply 4 of 37
    zroger73zroger73 Posts: 787member
    If Samsung's service works 1000x better than the "smart" features on their TVs then it'll still be garbage. I have a few Samsung TVs that I use for secondary duty in various rooms. I've found them to be reliable and with a decent picture for the price. However, the smart features and HDMI-CEC compatibility are a joke just like their intrusive "service notice" banners that frequently appear.
    jbdragontdknoxintrepidfoster
  • Reply 5 of 37
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,403member
    cali said:
    Samsung willing to scrape pennies for market share.

    i say Apple invest billions in an exclusive movie/TV/Game studio and destroy these scumbags. 
    Well, Apple has an extremely close relationship -- via Steve and Laurene Jobs, Bob Iger, etc. -- with Disney (ABC, ESPN, A&E major portfolio of studios and franchises such as Marvel and Lucasfilm), and yet, nothing of consequence has happened even with them. So I doubt that buying a studio will make much of a difference.
    lord amhranai46tdknox
  • Reply 6 of 37
    sirlance99sirlance99 Posts: 1,293member
    cali said:
    Samsung willing to scrape pennies for market share.

    i say Apple invest billions in an exclusive movie/TV/Game studio and destroy these scumbags. 
    Stop it already. No one is going to destroy anyone. You think that of Apple made a studio for all those things it would destroy everyone? Well, first of all everyone would have to like the movie/TV show/game to destroy the others. Not everyone will. Plus it would have to be cross platform and available on practically everything much like Netflix/Vudu and the like. 

    I'm not say Apple won't come out with original programs (I hope they do) but they won't dominant til it's available everywhere.
    techloverdasanman69
  • Reply 7 of 37
    jbdragonjbdragon Posts: 2,305member
    If it's the same bundle garbage as everyone else, I see no point in Apple wasting their time!  It's bringing nothing new to the table.
    edited May 2016
  • Reply 8 of 37
    bobschlobbobschlob Posts: 1,074member
    cali said:
    Samsung willing to scrape pennies for market share.

    i say Apple invest billions in an exclusive movie/TV/Game studio and destroy these scumbags. 
    LOL. Apple invested "billions" in Beats. How'd that turn out?
    cnocbui
  • Reply 9 of 37
    mike1mike1 Posts: 3,275member
    cali said:
    Samsung willing to scrape pennies for market share.

    i say Apple invest billions in an exclusive movie/TV/Game studio and destroy these scumbags. 
    Well, Apple has an extremely close relationship -- via Steve and Laurene Jobs, Bob Iger, etc. -- with Disney (ABC, ESPN, A&E major portfolio of studios and franchises such as Marvel and Lucasfilm), and yet, nothing of consequence has happened even with them. So I doubt that buying a studio will make much of a difference.
    For all we know they may have reached an agreement with Disney, but without the other key players, it's not a service. You may be able to forgo one of the major networks, but Disney and their networks does not make a viable service. If I remember correctly, the difficulties revolved around Comcast and all the NBC stations and CBS who has been trying to sell their own all-access service.
  • Reply 10 of 37
    dewmedewme Posts: 5,328member
    This is a recurring pattern. 1) Samsung gets wind of something Apple is working on and quickly pushes out a shabby rendition of what they think Apple is going to do. They don't want to be accused of slavishly copying Apple, which they do, and somehow think that their poorly rendered preemptive strikes allow them to one-up Apple. While this may get them some clicks from adoring fans and low brow media, the real losers are customers who actually pay money for Samsung's Speculativeware products. 2) The first day Apple's version gets publicly exposed the Samsung versions become landfill and eBay fodder. 3) Samsung goes back to the tracing board, copies Apple for their second release, and claims they're not copying because their product in fact hit the market first. Hey, maybe it's a reasonable ego inflation and market rationalization strategy for Samsung itself but it's a very predictable butt hurt pattern for Samsung's customers who get duped by betas disguised as products.
    pscooter63larryaintrepidfoster
  • Reply 11 of 37
    cali said:
    Samsung willing to scrape pennies for market share.

    i say Apple invest billions in an exclusive movie/TV/Game studio and destroy these scumbags. 
    Well, Apple has an extremely close relationship -- via Steve and Laurene Jobs, Bob Iger, etc. -- with Disney (ABC, ESPN, A&E major portfolio of studios and franchises such as Marvel and Lucasfilm), and yet, nothing of consequence has happened even with them. So I doubt that buying a studio will make much of a difference.
    I wonder what her influence is with Disney now that she holds the Steven P Jobs Trust shares of Disney.
  • Reply 12 of 37
    badmonkbadmonk Posts: 1,285member
    bobschlob said:
    cali said:
    Samsung willing to scrape pennies for market share.

    i say Apple invest billions in an exclusive movie/TV/Game studio and destroy these scumbags. 
    LOL. Apple invested "billions" in Beats. How'd that turn out?
    I think it will turn out very well.  Beats has 13 million PAYING customers (& growing) and the headphone business is a high volume high margin business.  Soon all millennials will need to rebuy their headphones to achieve Bluetooth or Lightening compatibility.

    Spotify has a nice clean interface but no Radiohead "a moon shaped pool?" The Apple Music library is deep...thanks to all the artist exclusives through the years.  Plus they are holding Taylor Swift hostage in her home to turn out her cool Apple Music commercials.

    Media companies are fools to think that Samsung can be a trusted business partner.  I hope they get taken.  Samsung has been raided by the Korean version of the FBI on numerous occasions for corrupt business practices.  They stole IP from the Japanese electronic industry (much like they do now).
    mwhiteintrepidfosterdaven
  • Reply 13 of 37
    tdknoxtdknox Posts: 82member
    bobschlob said:
    cali said:
    Samsung willing to scrape pennies for market share.

    i say Apple invest billions in an exclusive movie/TV/Game studio and destroy these scumbags. 
    LOL. Apple invested "billions" in Beats. How'd that turn out?
    Pretty well actually

    http://www.statisticbrain.com/headphone-industry-market-share-statistics/
    http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/6836561/apple-music-spotify-subscriber-count-analysis
    mwhitenolamacguyintrepidfoster
  • Reply 14 of 37
    foggyhillfoggyhill Posts: 4,767member
    MAy this, may that. ... What kind of "news" is that exactly.

    That seems like Google type news, announce ever single thing you do in a press release..
  • Reply 15 of 37
    isteelersisteelers Posts: 738member
    bobschlob said:
    cali said:
    Samsung willing to scrape pennies for market share.

    i say Apple invest billions in an exclusive movie/TV/Game studio and destroy these scumbags. 
    LOL. Apple invested "billions" in Beats. How'd that turn out?
    Very good. They bought a popular and profitable headphone brand, launched a popular music service with no free tier and yet have 13MM paid subscribers in a little over a year, already a major player in the industry. 
    mwhitenolamacguy
  • Reply 16 of 37
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    Hey Samsung... how's that Apple-killing "Milk" music service of yours doing?
    slprescottpatchythepirate
  • Reply 17 of 37
    sflocalsflocal Posts: 6,092member
    bobschlob said:
    cali said:
    Samsung willing to scrape pennies for market share.

    i say Apple invest billions in an exclusive movie/TV/Game studio and destroy these scumbags. 
    LOL. Apple invested "billions" in Beats. How'd that turn out?
    If you actually paid attention to Apple's financials, it's profitable.

    If you're going to troll, at least do a better job at it.
  • Reply 18 of 37
    bobschlobbobschlob Posts: 1,074member
    isteelers said:
    bobschlob said:
    LOL. Apple invested "billions" in Beats. How'd that turn out?
    Very good. They bought a popular and profitable headphone brand, launched a popular music service with no free tier and yet have 13MM paid subscribers in a little over a year, already a major player in the industry. 
    One of Apple's lowest ROI to date. A fraction compared to the return on the $278 million investment in something like PA Semi.
  • Reply 19 of 37
    nolamacguynolamacguy Posts: 4,758member
    bobschlob said:
    cali said:
    Samsung willing to scrape pennies for market share.

    i say Apple invest billions in an exclusive movie/TV/Game studio and destroy these scumbags. 
    LOL. Apple invested "billions" in Beats. How'd that turn out?
    how much profit is Beats killing it with this year? id say it turned out that well.
  • Reply 20 of 37
    ksecksec Posts: 1,569member
    I am still wishing for an Apple TV set, not a STB. I dont have a problem paying 30% preimum for an Apple TV set.

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