Apple’s online television service has reportedly been put on hold

Apple likes to take its time with new products, but the delays to the company’s long-rumored online television service are hardly voluntary. Naturally, the reason for the delays is money, with Apple unwilling to increase its offering price, and content creators unwilling to decrease their asking price. According to Bloomberg, Apple wants to sell a little more than a dozen channels for around $30 to $40 a month, but the average cable package costs more than twice that much, so media companies have been less than willing to give streaming licenses to Apple. Because of this, the company has reportedly put its online television ambitions on hold while it tries to figure out a solution. 

Back in 2011 Steve Jobs was reported to have told autobiographer Walter Isaacson that he had “finally cracked” television, but four years after the death of the iconic Apple co-founder, the company has reportedly put its plans to launch a subscription TV service on hold as it struggles to come up with a viable offer for customers of its Apple TV set-top box. According to CBS Chief Executive Officer Les Moonves, who said last year that a streaming deal with Apple was likely, Apple has put its plans “on hold” and the reason, according to a source speaking to Bloomberg, is an unwillingness by content owners to lower their price. The anonymous source said Apple’s plan was “to sell a package of 14 or so channels for $30 to $40 a month,” but with a typical cable package costing $85 a month, media companies are reluctant to sell their content for less to Apple. Apple launched its fourth-generation Apple TV earlier this year and for the first time offered an App Store on its set-top box through which developers can publish and sell their apps. Among those Apple hopes will develop apps will be media companies, like Tim Warner, which has launched its HBO Now service on Apple TV for $15 a month. Apple CEO Tim Cook earlier this year said that “apps are the future of TV,” possibly indicating that Apple was struggling to come up with a viable package of channels for customers.