APPLE, COMCAST
IN BOX TALKS: UPDATE
Apple and Comcast are in discussions to jointly develop a streaming-TV service based on an Apple set-top box that would use the cable giant’s infrastructure to avoid Internet congestion, The Wall Street Journal has reported.
But the venture could face a number of obstacles, the paper noted. Regulatory scrutiny is inevitable, given the size and scope of a collaboration between these giant players. Plus the proposed structure of a service that would give Apple preferential access could raise red flags for advocates of "Net neutrality."
The FCC is currently revising the rules surrounding Net neutrality, and it's possible that the body will close loopholes that would've given this kind of service a pass.
Still, given the power of the parties involved, many doubt the FCC and Justice Department will put up that much resistance if the discussions result in a deal. But again, at this point they're just talks.
Citing "people familiar with the matter," the paper says despite all this the talks could ultimately be a yield step forward in the integration of TV and new media.
We’re talking the fusion of on-demand TV shows and cloud-stored online video, among other content, which means you could segue effortlessly from The Kardashians to that video of a beagle falling off the piano bench. Progress!
Comcast has already agreed to pay $45 billion to acquire Time Warner Cable, the entity that, for millions of homes, went dark during halftime at the Super Bowl and came back on several minutes into the third quarter. That deal is subject to "regulatory" review and will entail some divestitures, but is likely to proceed. What could possibly go wrong?
Indeed, some new-media commentators suspect the proposed merger makes the service that much more unlikely--and the story's timing suspect--given that it would increase regulator scrutiny.
Apple, the WSJ says, had begun talks with TWC about a similar venture nearly two years ago, under the comically mysterious name Project Jupiter. The set-top breakthrough was a longtime dream of Apple founder Steve Jobs.
Of course, there’s tussling over who gets direct access to users under this set-top scenario. Will subscribers log in with Apple IDs and thus have access to all that yummy consumer data? That’s the desired outcome from Cupertino’s perspective.
But Comcast, too, would like a chance to sell your every click to advertisers—er, "retain significant control over the relationship with customers and the data," as the WSJ team so delicately phrases it.
This is but one of many issues to be settled before the rumored venture can proceed. Another is the obtaining of rights from content owners, the costs of which could imperil the margins of the streaming enterprise.
