Apple is no stranger to the online TV market but the company, known for its tendency to revolutionize markets, has so far failed to make a splash in the TV space. But that might be about to change as Apple is reportedly launching a new online TV service in partnership with the big boys of television.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the iPhone maker is looking to launch a new subscription service designed to bring online TV to the new generation of “cord cutters”. The service would bring popular channels such as ESPN, ABC and Fox while leaving out the bulk of the channels that usually come packaged with traditional TV contracts.
More importantly, the subscription service which is rumored to cost around $35 per month, will be available on all Apple devices including mobile and desktop computers.
This isn’t the first time Apple has been rumored to be jumping into the TV space. For years the public has speculated that the iPhone maker would revolutionize TV just as it did with the music industry years ago. Tim Cook himself, Apple’s CEO, has constantly hinted and teased that the company did have a real interest in this space and was working towards a new product or service.
And the company did unveil a small step in this direction a few days ago when it announced the timed exclusivity deal with HBO for its new on-demand streaming service. According to the WSJ report, citing people familiar with the matter, this step was designed as an appetizer ahead of the main course, planned for later this year when the new subscription service would be fully unveiled.
Until now Apple has had very limited success in this field and its plans have been deemed radical by the industry, which has been very slow to adapt. It will be very interesting to see if later in June, when the subscription service is rumored to be unveiled, the company does indeed manage to bring something unique to market, or whether it simply caved to the pressure from the major players in this field.
Source: Wall Street Journal