Tech & Biz

Apple to Launch Subscription TV Service

by Jordan Yerman | December 22, 2009 at 01:46 pm

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Apple is looking to launch a subscription-based TV service based around the Apple TV. Apparently Disney and CBS are interested in coming onboard as content partners, which would see their content delivered via the iTunes store for a monthly fee; a sort of Internet-based cable alternative.

Apple doesn't say much about its TV efforts, typically resorting to putting out news releases to tout when new shows are available on iTunes and for watching via the company's Apple TV set-top box. The company has often called its Apple TV device "a hobby."

This is the sort of offering that would make the Apple TV actually relevant, since at the moment it's like a Slingbox that doesn't sling: really just a big hard drive that hooks up to a television set. Even with a subscription service, though, is the Apple TV hardware even necessary? Could a user not just connect her laptop to her flatscreen, or watch on desktop monitor?

Ad-financed streaming will dominate TV distribution over the Internet going forward, but there will also be room for paid services, according to Ingrid Salomonsson, media analyst at Swedish market research company Mediavision. Content and price will decide whether a service becomes a success or not -- after all, content is queen, Salomonsson said.