No New Apple Television Products Coming in 2012 as Content Negotiations Stall Once Again

apple tv blackBloomberg reports that Apple will not be releasing a new "TV product" this year as difficult negotiations with media companies have slowed Apple's plans. The Wall Street Journal reported last month that Apple is working a new set-top box offering access to live and on-demand television content, but a timeframe for a release of the product was not given at that time. Apple has also been said to be working on its own television set, but apparently neither product will be making an appearance in the relatively near future.

Apple is vying with the likes of Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Amazon.com Inc. to make TVs the digital hub of people’s lives in an industry projected to reach $200 billion worldwide by 2017. Whoever wins must first strike deals with media companies or cable providers who have little incentive to cede valuable revenue streams. The result: Apple won’t be releasing a new TV product this year, as analysts had predicted, said a person familiar with the company’s plans.

Negotiations between Apple and the media companies have reportedly stumbled over the software interface for any new television product from Apple, with cable companies wanting to have control over the software. The two sides are also at loggerheads over whether Apple would sell a new set-top box directly to consumers or if the device would be distributed by the cable companies.

The report also offers a rehashing of The Wall Street Journal's details on what the new set-top box would offer:

Since the middle of the last decade, Apple’s engineers have been working on a more advanced product to allow viewers to quickly find shows and movies, blending both live and recorded material, the people said. It would recommend content based on interests and work seamlessly with Apple’s family of other devices. An iPhone or iPad would double as a remote control, the people said.

Apple has reportedly been talking with cable companies since the original Apple TV's debut in 2007, but talks have repeatedly stalled over numerous issues. More recently, Apple is said to have focused on companies willing to offer Apple live content for streaming, with Time Warner Cable apparently being the major cable company most receptive to Apple's proposals.

Apple is furthest along negotiating with Time Warner Cable Inc., said the people familiar with the talks. Yet even if Time Warner Cable agrees to a deal with Apple, it wouldn’t represent a radical change for customers, who would still pay their monthly cable bill.

Apple may be looking to Time Warner Cable to be its first partner in a similar way that AT&T Inc. helped bring the iPhone to market, one person said.

Beyond live content, Apple is also said to be pursuing substantial offerings of on-demand content, but media companies are wary of losing control of their content and the channel bundles offered through cable providers.

Related Roundups: Apple TV, tvOS 14
Buyer's Guide: Apple TV (Buy Now)

Top Rated Comments

AppleGuesser Avatar
114 months ago
Hey, another product that MR has been hyping up and proclaimed with certainty its coming only to back out at the 11th hour. Kinda like the iPad Mini that you guys guarenteed would be released 2 years ago and again last year?

In other news, the iPhone Mini is rumored to be in production. Here is a shoddy rendered picture. Trust us, its real....:rolleyes:
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
G51989 Avatar
114 months ago
Those content owners better get with the program or die out. Now wonder they call them the dinosaur networks!!

Or die out? How do you figure? They own the content that everyone wants.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Frankied22 Avatar
114 months ago
Go figure. There's never going to be an Apple TV besides the $99 set top box they already sell. Just people going back on their confirmations of earlier this year.

----------

Hey, another product that MR has been hyping up and proclaimed with certainty its coming only to back out when at the 11th hour. Kinda like the iPad Mini that you guys guarenteed would be released 2 years ago and again last year?

In other news, the iPhone Mini is rumored to be in production. Here is a shoddy rendered picture. Trust us, its real....:rolleyes:

Exactly.
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Piggie Avatar
114 months ago
Note to Apple:

Stop playing around making "Toys" for people to play with.
Yes, I know toys make you a lot of money but you are neglecting your roots.

Ok, many people may not NEED real powerful computers any more, but that does not you should just give up pushing.

Please get back to the great company (tech wise, not money wise) you once were and push and push tech as hard as you can every single year so the whole world can move forward to better things.

Don't just dumb society down with easy to use toys, please.

Oh how I wish you were "cutting edge" for people's main computers once again.

One day, perhaps.......
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
ts1973 Avatar
114 months ago
Call me a pessimist, but these differences are major and will prevent any launch of an integrated tv product by any company for the foreseeable future, and I'm thinking in years here.

There just is no incentive for cable companies to go along. Now, for me, none of this matters very much because this is a US story, God knows when such a product would ever get to Europe (we're talking a hundred of these difficult partners in that case), but it's a shame for you guys.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
verniesgarden Avatar
114 months ago
Hey, another product that MR has been hyping up and proclaimed with certainty its coming only to back out at the 11th hour. Kinda like the iPad Mini that you guys guarenteed would be released 2 years ago and again last year?

In other news, the iPhone Mini is rumored to be in production. Here is a shoddy rendered picture. Trust us, its real....:rolleyes:

iPad Mini is becoming the new powerbook G5
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Top Stories

apple repair service expansion iphone repair 07072020 big

Apple Agrees to Multimillion-Dollar Settlement After iPhone Repair Technicians Post Customer's Private Photos Online

Monday June 7, 2021 2:44 am PDT by
Apple has paid a 21-year-old millions of dollars in a legal settlement after photos and videos from the customer's iPhone, sent in for repair, were uploaded to Facebook, leading to "severe emotional distress," according to a new report from The Telegraph. The incident occurred in 2016 at a repair facility run by Apple supplier Pegatron in California. The 21-year-old college student sent her...
f1623085603

Apple Announces iOS 15: First Look at New Features

Monday June 7, 2021 10:07 am PDT by
Apple today previewed iOS 15, the company's next major update for the iPhone, featuring new video calling capabilities, improvements to Messages, user statuses, a smart notification summary, and more. FaceTime In iOS 15, FaceTime features a new grid view and portrait mode support for video. For audio, FaceTime calls now offer Spatial Audio so that voices sound as if they are coming from...
wwdc 2021 live coverage

WWDC 2021 Apple Event Live Keynote Coverage: iOS 15, macOS 12, and More

Monday June 7, 2021 9:02 am PDT by
Apple's all-online Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) starts today with the traditional keynote kicking things off at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. We're expecting to see a number of announcements, including iOS 15, macOS 12, watchOS 8, and tvOS 15, but it's unclear what else we'll be seeing at the event. While there had been some claims of redesigned MacBook Pro models making an appearance...
wwdc 2021 details

Reliable Leaker Suggests No MacBook Pro or Other Hardware Announcements at WWDC Today

Monday June 7, 2021 5:13 am PDT by
In response to a tweet asking if there will be hardware announcements at WWDC 2021, cryptic but reliable leaker "l0vetodream" suggested there won't be any. In a follow-up tweet, he seems to have ruled out new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models being unveiled at this time, suggesting that it is still too early for an announcement. Leading up to WWDC, which kicks off today with Apple's...
apple music june 7 post

Apple Music Announces 'Special Event' Tomorrow, Immediately After WWDC Keynote

Sunday June 6, 2021 4:28 am PDT by
In a video posted on Apple Music, first spotted on Twitter, Apple is teasing a "special event" that will take place on June 7 at 12 p.m PT, two hours after the main WWDC keynote begins. Currently not on the WWDC schedule, this event is related to Spatial Audio for Apple Music, which Apple has said will launch later this month. Apple announced that Spatial Audio, powered by Dolby Atmos, will...
wwdc 2021 details

App Store Leaks Unannounced Apple 'Mind' App, Suggests Tips and Contacts Coming to watchOS 8 at WWDC

Saturday June 5, 2021 3:35 pm PDT by
Less than 48 hours away from the start of WWDC, a new App Store leak suggests that Apple plans to announce a brand new "Mind" app across its different platforms, as well as the introduction of the standalone Tips and Contacts app for Apple Watch, presumably as part of the watchOS 8 update. The leak comes at the courtesy of developer Khaos Tian, who noticed that Apple accidentally updated the ...
f1623088657

Apple Announces iCloud+, Combines Paid Storage With Privacy Features Like Hide My Email

Monday June 7, 2021 11:00 am PDT by
At WWDC, Apple announced that iCloud is getting a premium subscription tier called "iCloud+," which includes "Private Relay" that allows users to browse the web through Safari with all information leaving their device remaining encrypted and access to "Hide My Email." One of the headlining features for iCloud+ is Private Relay, which, similarly to a VPN, ensures that all traffic leaving a...
Top Stories 52 Feature

Top Stories: WWDC Kicks Off on Monday, New MacBook Pros Spotted?, iPad and AirPods Rumors

Saturday June 5, 2021 6:00 am PDT by
It's finally here! Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference kicks off on Monday with the traditional keynote address at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time. At the event, we'll undoubtedly see the unveiling of upcoming versions of Apple's operating systems like iOS 15 and macOS 12, and if we're lucky, perhaps some hardware like a redesigned MacBook Pro. This week also saw a host of rumors about...
f1623086988

You'll Be Able to Add Your Driver's License to Your iPhone in Select States Starting With iOS 15

Monday June 7, 2021 10:37 am PDT by
Apple today announced that some users will be able to add their driver's license or state IDs to the Wallet app in iOS 15 this fall. This will be available in select states in the United States. If supported, you'll be able to scan your ID and store it directly in the Wallet app. Apple is working with the TSA to enable airport security checkpoints as the first place customers can user their...
macos monterey

Here Are All the Macs Compatible With macOS Monterey

Monday June 7, 2021 12:17 pm PDT by
macOS Monterey is compatible with many of the Macs that were able to run macOS Big Sur, but it drops support for some older MacBook Air and iMac models from 2013 and 2014. A full compatibility list is below: iMac - Late 2015 and later iMac Pro - 2017 and later MacBook Air - Early 2015 and later MacBook Pro - Early 2015 and later Mac Pro - Late 2013 and later Mac mini -...