Yesterday, a report surfaced that outlined Apple’s decision to halt its negotiations with TV networks for its upcoming TV streaming service. Now, more details have been revealed.
According to a report published by Re/code, the reasons why Apple’s talks with TV networks regarding the oft-rumored TV streaming service fell through because of money, but also because of the ways that Apple wanted to deliver bundles to subscribers. Specifically, Apple was eyeing “skinny” bundles which would be priced no higher than $30, which is a stark change from how bundles typically exist now.
For many providers, bundles are a huge sell, even if many customers admit that they don’t need/want all of the channels that are included in those bundles. Typically those bundles, with hundreds of channels, can cost quite a bit of money every month, not even including whatever other packages the subscriber has tacked on.
Apple, for its part, wanted to keep its primary bundle small, with only a few channels for subscribers to choose from, and to essentially get rid of the “filler” that many current bundles offer.
“The optics are important to him,” said a TV executive who has talked to Cue about his plans. “He doesn’t want to have filler.”
The price point, that $30 maximum, was certainly a stickler, but apparently it goes beyond that, and circles back to selection. According to the report, many of the networks simply wouldn’t offer their main channels without their other options, too. The examples put forth in the original report outlined 21st Century Fox’s lack of enthusiasm for selling FOX and FOX News without FOX Sports 1 or its FX networks. NBCUniversal, too, refused to sell its mainstay NBC network without also bundling USA, SyFy, Bravo, and many of its other channels.
In an effort to move past this, Apple’s Eddy Cue had apparently suggested that there could be higher tiers of options for subscribers that wanted to pay more, so that those other channels could be offered — just outside of the standard, “skinny” bundle. This seems to be a major sticking point for the networks, though, and is one major reason why the talks were stymied.
That doesn’t mean the talks are permanently dead, though. It seems possible that Apple and the networks could find their way back to the negotiation table at some point in the future, but when that might be, or how fruitful it might turn out, still remains to be seen.
[via Re/code]
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