NO APPLE TV PRODUCT THIS YEAR - Business Insider

Bad news for anyone hoping Apple would blow up the TV industry this year.

Adam Satariano and Alex Sherman at Bloomberg report, "Apple won?t be releasing a new TV product this year," citing "a person familiar with the company?s plans."

Apple is struggling to reach deals with the cable companies and the content companies who are negotiating from a position of strength. In the past, Apple was able to negotiate with a weakened music industry, as well as a highly competitive wireless industry. Cable providers are basically monopolies who are making a lot of money. There's some jostling between cable, satellite, and carriers, but it's nothing like AT&T versus Verizon versus Sprint and T-Mobile.

Satariano and Sherman report, "In recent negotiations, the main stumbling blocks with cable companies have included a tussle for control over the software that determines the screen interface -- the look and feel of the viewer?s experience, said people familiar with the discussions."

Further, the report suggests Apple wants to sell a set-top box, not a full blown television, but cable companies want to be able to lease the box to consumers while Apple wants to sell it directly to consumers.

They also report Apple has been working on doing something in the TV space since 2005, but has hit snags repeatedly.

Before he died, Steve Jobs reportedly told top Apple executives that unless Apple could get more content, in particular live content, then Apple's TV efforts wouldn't be revolutionary enough. Eddy Cue is now in charge of negotiations for Apple.

While it all seems like a lost cause, Satariano and Sherman say Apple is close to a deal with Time Warner Cable, and it could be the pilot company just like AT&T took a chance on the iPhone.

Robert Marcus, the COO of Time Warner Cable, while not commenting on Apple specifically did tell Bloomberg, "Unlike other distributors, we are not religiously wedded to absolutely controlling the user interface."

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Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/no-apple-tv-product-this-year-2012-9

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