The Apple TV has gained two new channels today in CBS Sports and USA NOW, bringing on-demand sports, drama, comedy, sitcoms and more programming to the set-top box in the United States. The new channels should be appearing on the Apple TV for all users today as an over-the-air update, with CBS Sports offering free sports clips for all users worldwide and USA NOW requiring a U.S. cable subscription to access most content.
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The new channels arrive less than six weeks before Apple is expected to announce its next-generation Apple TV alongside a full-fledged streaming TV service at WWDC in June. The new A8-based set-top box will reportedly feature both an App Store and Siri, in addition to a redesigned remote control with a touch pad and significantly higher internal storage than the current 8GB model.
Apple's much-rumored streaming TV service will consist of a lightweight package of about 25 channels for between $30 to $40 per month, anchored by networks such as ABC, CBS and Fox. The service will be available on several devices, including the iPhone, iPad and Apple TV, with other potential channels in the lineup including Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, TLC, MTV, Comedy Central, FX and Nickelodeon.
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Apple has been steadily adding new channels to the Apple TV this year, including NBC Sports in late April, CNNGo and TED, Tastemade and Young Hollywood in March and Sports Illustrated's 120 SPORTS in January. HBO NOW, a subscription-based service that provides on-demand HBO content, also went live on Apple TV in early April for $14.99 per month with a free trial available.
Update 11:05 AM PT: Crave TV and Shomi are now available on Apple TV in Canada per Rene Ritchie, with the former requiring a Bell TV subscription and the latter needing a Rogers or Shaw subscription. French-German TV network Arte is also now available on Apple TV in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, Belgium and Luxembourg per iFun.de. Fox Sports is also available in Australia, while Hopster has been added in the UK.
Top Rated Comments
It isn't Apple. That I can guarantee.
And, I can also guarantee that both the ATV interface AND the whole way that you watch TV will be radically different in the near future, depending on how the content providers want to play the game. It will likely take years before they fully agree to a radical overhaul of broadcast TV - there is an enormous amount of money at stake, and the licensing issues are unbelievably complex - but change is coming.
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Dear Apple: This only helps if we can get the content without an existing cable subscription.
It isn't Apple.
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Perhaps Apple will adopt an amazing new concept as a Store model where I can actually choose what content I want to see on Apple TV rather then forcing it on me at regular intervals and having me spend time removing content I can't see because I am not subscribed or have a cable TV service.
It isn't Apple.
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Please add channels that DON'T require a cable subscription to watch!
It isn't Apple.
And while I have your attention. PLEASE send me my watch already.