CBS

Steve Jobs' disruptive best-of-television service, revisited

December 28, 2011: 4:23 PM ET

As rumors of a "real" Apple TV heat up, ideas that could upend the industry resurface

Photo: Michael Copeland

In late 2009, the Wall Street Journal ran a story that sent shivers through the television industry.

Quoting unnamed sources familiar with Apple's (AAPL) negotiations, the Journal reported that CBS (CBS) and ABC (DIS) were seriously considering Steve Jobs' plan to offer TV subscriptions over the Internet.

One form those subscriptions might take, according to these sources, was a $30-per-month package of advertising-free shows from a bundle of top cable and broadcast networks -- something Apple was calling the "best of television."

Although the Journal reported that Apple was hoping to launch the service in 2010, it met fierce resistance, particularly from cable companies that reap tens of billions each year in advertising dollars and in the fees subscribers pay for access to channels they don't want in order to watch the handful of shows they do.

"You don't want to shoot a hole in the bucket to create another revenue stream," one media executive told the Journal at the time.

Apple's TV subscription service did not launch in 2010, obviously. Or in 2011, for that matter.

But the idea has not gone away. In a note to clients issued Wednesday, Sterne Agee's Shaw Wu noted that what's missing from Apple's current TV offering -- Apple TV coupled with the content available for purchase on iTunes -- is access to live broadcast television.

One way to get that access, he writes, is to have users subscribe to satellite or cable TV services, the way they do now.

But another way -- in his words "a more revolutionary, disruptive and differentiated way" -- would be to offer the content via the Internet, in a subscription service that sounds a lot like Jobs' original "best of television" idea.

"We continue to hear," Wu writes, "what AAPL would love to do is offer users the ability to choose their own customized programming, i.e., whichever channels/shows they want for a monthly subscription fee. This is obviously much more complicated from a licensing standpoint. And in our view, would change the game for television and give AAPL a big leg-up against the competition."

Featured Newsletters

Every morning, discover the companies, deals and trends in tech that are moving markets and making headlines.

Receive Fortune's newsletter on all the deals that matter, from Wall Street to Sand Hill Road. SUBSCRIBE

Covering the digital giants of Silicon Valley and beyond, an in-depth look at enterprise companies, and the startups disrupting them. Written by Michal Lev-Ram and emailed twice weekly.

Anne Fisher answers career-related questions and offers helpful advice for business professionals.

Company Price Change % Change
Bank of America Corp... 7.95 -0.16 -1.97%
Microsoft Corp 31.27 -0.17 -0.54%
Ford Motor Co 12.28 -0.25 -2.00%
General Electric Co 19.39 0.17 0.88%
Citigroup Inc 32.36 -1.00 -3.00%
Data as of Feb 22
Index Last Change % Change
Dow 12,938.67 -27.02 -0.21%
Nasdaq 2,933.17 -15.40 -0.52%
S&P 500 1,357.66 -4.55 -0.33%
Treasuries 2.00 -0.04 -1.96%
Data as of 6:56am ET
Most Popular
AT&T CEO pay docked $2 million for T-Mobile debacle
 
Christie to Buffett: Shut up and pay up
 
The spectrum war's winners and losers
 
PC slump kills HP and Dell's bottom lines
 
Chris Christie to Warren Buffett: Just 'shut up'
 
Market indexes are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer LIBOR Warning: Neither BBA Enterprises Limited, nor the BBA LIBOR Contributor Banks, nor Reuters, can be held liable for any irregularity or inaccuracy of BBA LIBOR. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2012 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Disclaimer The Dow Jones IndexesSM are proprietary to and distributed by Dow Jones & Company, Inc. and have been licensed for use. All content of the Dow Jones IndexesSM © 2012 is proprietary to Dow Jones & Company, Inc. Chicago Mercantile Association. The market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2012. All rights reserved. Most stock quote data provided by BATS.
Powered by WordPress.com VIP.