Appearing on Bloomberg TV earlier today, CBS CEO Les Moonves said that Apple is actively trying to shore up content deals ahead of its planned TV subscription service. While early reports indicated that Apple was hoping to launch the service to coincide with the release of its fourth-gen
“Apple is having conversations with everyone about doing their own streaming services,” Moonves said during the interview. “We have had those conversations, as have the other networks. Do I think something will happen? Probably, but I do not know when.”
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Some of the earlier reports regarding Apple’s rumored TV subscription service seemed to indicate that all of the major networks were willing to play ball, save for NBC which is owned by Comcast. Subsequent reports, however, have suggested that Apple’s negotiations with networks like CBS and Fox are still coming along slowly.
Not surprisingly, CBS isn’t putting all of its eggs in Apple’s basket and is more than open to securing content deals with all sorts of other companies, including Facebook and Netflix.
As for Apple’s TV subscription service, it’s believed that Apple’s vision involves a sparse offering of 25-30 channels for about $40/month. If and when Apple is able to get its subscription TV service off the ground, it’ll be extremely interesting to see how consumers take to it. Though $40 is much more affordable than your standard cable bill, it’s still about four times more expensive than a Netflix subscription. This, though, isn’t entirely lost on Apple as the company is reportedly exploring an initiative that would see the company develop and produce its own lineup of original programming.
