CBS Turned Down Apple TV Subscription Service Deal

Thursday November 3, 2011 8:41 pm PDT by Arnold Kim

During an earnings call today, CBS CEO Les Moonves is reported to have revealed that CBS had turned down an Apple TV service that would rely on advertising revenue.

As reported by GigaOM:

When asked about CBS’s appetite for striking deals with new streaming providers that might not have the money to pay cash upfront to license its content, Moonves said that CBS had decided against joining an Apple TV service because it was based on an ad split.

Apple has been long rumored to be working on some sort of TV subscription service over the past few years. A Wall Street Journal article from December, 2009 described one possible iteration of the service:

The proposed service by the maker of iPhones and iPod music players could, in at least some scenarios, offer access to some TV shows from a selection of major U.S. television networks for a monthly fee, according to people familiar with the discussions.

Such a service, of course, has never launched. But it's not clear if that particular plan was canceled or is awaiting the arrival of a full Apple television.

Rumors of a full blown Apple TV set were recently revived after Steve Jobs' biography quoted Jobs as saying he had "finally cracked" the problems standing in the way of an Apple television set.

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Top Rated Comments

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Trapped Wind

107 months ago

I cut the cord 2 months ago and it was the best thing I've ever done. A Macbook Pro, iPad, and Apple Tv are all I need. CBS is making a huge mistake. There's a new subscription world upon us and either they embrace it or people will steal content. I'm not paying over $100 for Hillbilly Handfishing and the rest of the garbage they feed us. Oh and I also haven't seen a commercial in 2 months!!

Rating: 22 Votes

MovieCutter

107 months ago

That's fine, I'll just torrent the 2 CBS shows I watch if they don't want to deliver them to me legitimately through a convenient method.

Rating: 12 Votes

ArchaicRevival

107 months ago

Now that Steve is gone I wonder if there's someone who can persuade them to join this new technology!

Rating: 9 Votes

TMar

107 months ago

Networks have gotten so use to getting paid twice on content (selling access to providers then selling ad space) I say good riddance to them all. There's a need for a new standard for delivering content and it's not going to break my heart when these greedy corps die because they can't change.

Rating: 8 Votes

nagromme

107 months ago

I think I’d rather pay (or even view-with-ads) on a per-show basis than per-network. Support current quality shows that tend to fade into cancellation, and boycott the endless reality clones!

(I’ve never opted for cable, but my iMac does have HD rabbit ears!)

Rating: 7 Votes

ProwlingTiger

107 months ago

Good for CBS. It's about time someone doesn't cave in and bow to Apple. Apple is the monopoly now, even thought they once hated monopolies.

You don't understand the definition of a monopoly.

Rating: 5 Votes

ArcaneDevice

107 months ago

CBS? No surprise there. ABC and NBC have decent apps for the iPad. CBS's app is irrelevant it's so bad.

CBS aims for a middle aged dull audience who are not tech savvy (no, BBT doesn't count - it's another bland sitcom about couples now) and neither are CBS. They refused Hulu and it took years for CBS to finally put their shows on the Web and their site is crap. Barely any episodes available, poor interface, cluttered site that's hard to find stuff on ...

They think that because they have the most network viewers they don't need to try and court the tech audience and other platforms. All the old folk still watch the magic box in the corner.

Rating: 5 Votes

rickdollar

107 months ago

CBS? No surprise there. ABC and NBC have decent apps for the iPad. CBS's app is irrelevant it's so bad.

Rating: 5 Votes