Re/code: Apple wants local stations on its web TV service
Earlier this week, folks in the know claimed that Apple's HDTV project had been junked after more than a decade of development. Now, however, Re/code is reporting that the company is still working on an online TV service for its devices, but wants to beat its rivals by being the first to offer live video from local broadcasters. Naturally, a push for regional content means having to deal with the hundreds of affiliates that operate across the country. So, instead of just shaking hands on a contract with ABC, Apple's got to get lawyers out to every station from Arizona's KNXV-TV to Wyoming's WAOW.
As the report points out, it's a feat that not even ABC has been able to achieve, since it only shows live local streaming video in selected cities. That increase in contractual complexity is also matched on the technical, since Apple is going to have to build some hefty infrastructure to support all of this live video. Naturally, this means that any announcement won't take place this year, forcing the company to push back this entirely theoretical start date until 2016.
