Apple (AAPL)’s much-rumored internet TV service will not make an appearance at the Sept. 9 event in San Francisco, Bloomberg reports, citing unnamed sources privy to the company’s plans, who say the tech giant has decided to push the service back unti 2016.
The publication also claims that talks to license content from major TV networks such as those owned by CBS Corp. and 21st Century Fox are progressing at a very slow place. Cupertino is also worried that it doesn’t yet have the data network bandwidth in place to ensure a quality viewing experience for the user, B’berg claims. The company still plans however, to unveil a new, more powerful version of its Apple TV set-top box.
“Apple has encountered problems creating a computer network that will ensure a fast, glitch-free viewing experience throughout the U.S. Such a network requires storing popular shows close to viewers, so each time a customer in New York for example wants to see local baseball game or the evening news, the shows don’t have to be streamed all the way from one of Apple’s four data centers in California, Nevada, North Carolina and Oregon,” said the report.
Apple wants to offer its TV service for $40 a month. That’s roughly half of the average cable bill in the U.S., and a price that Cupertino is having a hard time convincing content providers to come on board for. Bloomberg notes however, that “the prospect of a new player willing to pay [TV networks] for their [programming] is particularly appealing to media conglomerates, given the declining number of pay-TV subscribers”.
The report coincides with a Piper Jaffray note expressing skepticism that Apple would unveil its streaming TV service this fall as it had originally planned.
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