ESPN subscribers with AppleTV would gain access to the network’s Internet service on their TV sets. [Sean] Bratches, the network’s executive vice president of affiliate and advertising sales, spoke in an interview today.
The brief report doesn't specify exactly how access to the WatchESPN functionality on the Apple TV would work, but currently customers of a number of cable and Internet companies have varying levels of access to the app's content on iOS and other platforms, which includes nearly all of ESPN's live broadcasts including online-only ESPN3 content.
Currently, cable subscribers through Comcast, Time Warner, Verizon FiOS, and Bright House have full access to WatchESPN content, while subscribers on a host of other Internet services can receive access to the ESPN3 content through the app.
WatchESPN being sent to Apple TV via AirPlay
iOS device users who are eligible to access WatchESPN content can currently send the content to an Apple TV via AirPlay, but including the app directly on the Apple TV would streamline that process.
Update: Bloomberg has expanded its article with additional comments from Bratches:
“We’re a platform-agnostic content company,” Bratches, the network’s executive vice president of affiliate and advertising sales, said today in an interview. “To the extent that in the future there’s an opportunity with Apple to authenticate through the pay-TV food chain as we’re doing with Microsoft, that’s something that we will participate in.”
Update 2: Bloomberg has updated its article once again, citing comments from an ESPN spokesperson backtracking from Bratches' statements by noting that there are no active talks with Apple underway.
No deal is imminent with Apple, said Amy Phillips, a spokeswoman for Bristol, Connecticut-based ESPN.
“We’re not having conversations with Apple about authenticating WatchESPN,” Phillips said.
Friday December 5, 2025 9:40 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is about to release iOS 26.2, the second major point update for iPhones since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least 15 notable changes and improvements worth checking out. We've rounded them up below.
Apple is expected to roll out iOS 26.2 to compatible devices sometime between December 8 and December 16. When the update drops, you can check Apple's servers for the ...
Monday December 8, 2025 4:54 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple is actively testing under-screen Face ID for next year's iPhone 18 Pro models using a special "spliced micro-transparent glass" window built into the display, claims a Chinese leaker.
According to "Smart Pikachu," a Weibo account that has previously shared accurate supply-chain details on Chinese Android hardware, Apple is testing the special glass as a way to let the TrueDepth...
Monday December 8, 2025 10:18 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the second release candidate version of iOS 26.2 to developers and public beta testers, with the software coming one week after Apple seeded the first RC. The release candidate represents the final version iOS 26.2 that will be provided to the public if no further bugs are found.
Registered developers and public beta testers can download the betas from the Settings app on...
Apple has ordered 22 million OLED panels from Samsung Display for the first foldable iPhone, signaling a significantly larger production target than the display industry had previously anticipated, ET News reports.
In the now-seemingly deleted report, ET News claimed that Samsung plans to mass-produce 11 million inward-folding OLED displays for Apple next year, as well as 11 million...
Monday December 1, 2025 2:40 am PST by Tim Hardwick
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models at the same time, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect for the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max.
One thing worth...
Monday December 8, 2025 9:23 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Apple's chipmaking chief Johny Srouji has reportedly indicated that he plans to continue working for the company for the foreseeable future.
"I love my team, and I love my job at Apple, and I don't plan on leaving anytime soon," said Srouji, in a memo obtained by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
Here is Srouji's full memo, as shared by Bloomberg:I know you've been reading all kind of rumors and...
Apple's senior vice president of hardware technologies Johny Srouji could be the next leading executive to leave the company amid an alarming exodus of leading employees, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports.
Srouji apparently recently told CEO Tim Cook that he is "seriously considering leaving" in the near future. He intends to join another company if he departs. Srouji leads Apple's chip design ...
Monday December 8, 2025 11:10 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple and Google are teaming up to make it easier for users to switch between iPhone and Android smartphones, according to 9to5Google. There is a new Android Canary build available today that simplifies data transfer between two smartphones, and Apple is going to implement the functionality in an upcoming iOS 26 beta.
Apple already has a Move to iOS app for transferring data from an Android...
Friday December 5, 2025 10:08 am PST by Joe Rossignol
Intel is expected to begin supplying some Mac and iPad chips in a few years, and the latest rumor claims the partnership might extend to the iPhone.
In a research note with investment firm GF Securities this week, obtained by MacRumors, analyst Jeff Pu said he and his colleagues "now expect" Intel to reach a supply deal with Apple for at least some non-pro iPhone chips starting in 2028....
Apple today announced that Fitness+ is expanding to 28 new markets on December 15 in the service's largest international rollout since launch, accompanied by new language dubbing and a K-Pop music genre.
Apple Fitness+ will become available in Chile, Hong Kong, India, the Netherlands, Singapore, Taiwan, and additional regions on December 15, with Japan scheduled to follow early next year....
I never understand this... why would anyone who has an iPhone use the aluminum remote? The remote app is a great experience, even better on iPad.
Aluminum remote: [list=1]Press desired button.
iPhone as remote: [list=1]Press Sleep/Wake or Home button. * Slide to unlock. * Enter passcode, if required. * Press Home button, if another app is currently running. * Flip to correct home screen, if required, to locate Remote app. * Launch Remote app. * Wait for app to locate AppleTV over Wi-Fi network. * Press desired button or perform required function.
iPhone as remote:
[list=1]Press Sleep/Wake or Home button.
* Slide to unlock.
* Enter passcode, if required.
* Press Home button, if another app is currently running.
* Flip to correct home screen, if required, to locate Remote app.
* Launch Remote app.
* Wait for app to locate AppleTV over Wi-Fi network.
* Press desired button or perform required function.
This is why I almost exclusively use the supplied apple tv remote vs. the remote app. Only time I use the remote app is to browse my local library while something else is playing on the apple tv. Speaking of that, I would LOVE if i could browse on the apple tv while something is playing (music aside which will play in the background).
[U][/U]How many watched the Paul McCartney concert streamed on iTunes and completely missed it??
THAT was the future of television Jobs was speaking about.
(Arificially) scarce availability of content is what the industry (most especially Disney) is after. No you can't buy that movie. It was available for sale for a limited time and you missed it.
Stupid as it seems to consumers, who've already moved light years beyond that nonsense, it's a compromise, like DRM on music. One step at a time, people. We have to get them into the game before they can see the rules have changed, stop fearing it and get on board with it.
On the other hand, inside word is that Hollywood is ALL about streaming at the moment. And don't think they'll let anyone, not even iTunes get between the distributors and their customers. So, there's that to contend with.
Every studio will want its own proprietary streaming format, that they alone totally control. It will be even worse than we have now, because that's they way they like it.
So let's get behind even the dumbest iTunes moves, because the alternative is bedlam. And who needs that when all they want to do is watch a movie?
No, I don't want a Warner Bros app or a Universal app, or a Sony app, or a Paramount app, or a …
Bloomberg briefly reports that Apple and Disney are in talks to bring sports network ESPN's WatchESPN application [App Store] to the Apple TV set-top box.
