Apple is reportedly in talks with content providers, including CBS, FOX, and Disney (ABC) to launch a subscription-based streaming television service by fall. The Wall Street Journal reports its sources say the service would have around 25 channels, and would run between $30 and $40 per month.
The publication says Apple’s streaming service would be available on the iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV, and is set to debut at the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference in June, with a September launch in the U.S.
The streaming service would include such channels as ABC, CBS, ESPN and FX, but would not include the lesser channels typically included in cable subscription packages. NBC will be absent from the lineup, likely due to a dispute between Apple and NBC parent firm Comcast.
Apple has long been rumored to have a subscription-based television service in the works, with rumors stretching back to 2009, when it was reported that the Cupertino firm was in talks with CBS and Walt Disney for such a service. Rumors have continued to pop up since then, with none of the rumors ever coming to fruition.
Rumors once more began circulating again last month, when Re/code reported that Apple was once again in talks with television content providers for a streaming TV service. The firm recently signed a deal with HBO to provide the cable network’s HBO Now streaming service to Apple TV users via a monthly subscription. It was also announced that same day that the $99 price of the Apple TV would drop to $69.
The price reduction and the streaming television subscription service would both go a long way towards making Apple’s admittedly long-in-the-tooth streaming set-top box more attractive to consumers.
The Apple TV is available at Apple.com, and Amazon.com.
