Intel (INTC) is indeed working on a service that will look to change the way cable TV is consumed, but it is running into some of the same problems Apple (AAPL) has seen in its efforts to turn the TV business on its head. The Wall Street Journal reports that Intel is currently in negotiations with media companies to discuss plans to become a “virtual cable operator,” selling TV channel bundles that would be delivered to users over the Internet. The company is also pitching the idea of offering TV channels outside of bundles, however, and this is where it is running into problems.
Convincing media companies to agree to the radical new model has reportedly been very challenging, and Intel has only struck one deal so far, according to the WSJ’s sources. The same roadblocks presented themselves in the music industry, and they are still presenting themselves in the movie industry.
Can companies like Intel and Apple move past these hurdles with the companies that control the TV industry? We may very well find out this year, as Intel is reportedly looking to launch its service by mid-2013.
