In The News

Apple TV Upgrade: Upside Limited Without Content

September 07, 2015

Apple has been working for some time on a cable killer, and is looking to combine broadcast and select cable networks for a cheaper, better-looking bundle. But that isn’t the extent of the company’s content ambitions: As Variety reported exclusively, the company has even made overtures to execs in Hollywood about producing its own original programming, with the goal of building out a production unit that could one day churn out TV shows or even movies.

But no Apple originals are in the foreseeable future, and negotiations with networks to license channels have been slow-moving, forcing the company to postpone the launch of the service until some time in 2016.

Without that content infusion, Apple TV is just another box — and an expensive one: Numerous leaks point to a base model launch price of $149.

That’s significantly more than the competition, which already has been eating Apple’s lunch with cheap boxes and streaming sticks. Roku, whose entry-level devices retail for just $50, sold 34% of all streaming devices in the U.S. in 2014. Apple TV’s market share was just 13%, according to data from Parks Associates, which also has sales of Google’s Chromecast streaming stick and Amazon’s Fire TV devices surpassing those of Apple’s hockey puck.

Consumers are voting with their wallets, argued Parks Associates research director Barbara Kraus: “If I just want to stream, I can do that with a $35 stick.”

From the article "Apple TV Upgrade: Upside Limited Without Content" by Janko Roettgers.

Previously In The News

Fewer People Are Canceling Services Like Netflix, Hulu, & Amazon

In the last 12 months about 19% of US broadband households or about one in 5 households have cancelled a OTT service like Netflix. At the end of 2015, 20% of U.S. broadband households had cancelled at...

Android Pay Features, UK Release Date, How It Works

Shoppers in the US prefer to use retailers' own payment apps over services such as Apple Pay and Android Pay, a survey of consumers has revealed, possibly due to a lack of adoption from stores. The...

Here's The Top Ten Most Popular Streaming Services This Year

"Importantly, all of these services have increased their subscriber base over the past year. The top five OTT services have stayed consistent, primarily through maintaining or growing the massive user...

DirecTV Now Goes 'Gangbusters,' And AT&T Stops The Bleeding

Before news broke Friday that AT&T has stopped bleeding TV customers, Parks Associates tried to put a finger on what sort of subscriber numbers for the company’s new streaming TV service would warrant...

‹
1
2
...
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
...
719
720
›