Deep Pockets: Intel Looks To Invest In Content with Major Media Labels For Its TV Service
Here's a question: what company is going to be the one to reinvent television? Everyone in the world knows it needs to happen, and we're all just seemingly waiting indefinitely for it to happen. Will it be Apple? A start-up we've never heard of? Microsoft? Intel? Earlier this year, Intel confirmed that it would soon be shipping some type of set-top box to introduce its own spin on pay-TV and the entire living room experience, but we've heard little since. Shocking, right? The content creators and pay-TV operators are being remarkably rigid. The unbelievable amount of fear of having the industry change even the slightest is preventing any progress and innovation from seeping in.
But according to a new report, Intel is making progress, albeit slow progress. Not surprisingly, it's reportedly having to offer to pay up to 75 percent more than traditional cable companies to get what it needs. To date, Intel hasn't sealed up a single programming deal, and the content creators know that they have all of the cards here. CBS, News Corp. and Viacom are reportedly talking numbers with Intel on how things would be distributed, while NBC Universal isn't as willing to budge.
Intel will reportedly cough up huge amounts of money in the form of subscriber fees, which likely will be passed down to users. But at that point, what's the benefit for the person on the couch? A cool interface? Yeah, we're guessing it's going to take a lot more than that to get someone to change providers... something akin to "lower prices."
But according to a new report, Intel is making progress, albeit slow progress. Not surprisingly, it's reportedly having to offer to pay up to 75 percent more than traditional cable companies to get what it needs. To date, Intel hasn't sealed up a single programming deal, and the content creators know that they have all of the cards here. CBS, News Corp. and Viacom are reportedly talking numbers with Intel on how things would be distributed, while NBC Universal isn't as willing to budge.
Intel will reportedly cough up huge amounts of money in the form of subscriber fees, which likely will be passed down to users. But at that point, what's the benefit for the person on the couch? A cool interface? Yeah, we're guessing it's going to take a lot more than that to get someone to change providers... something akin to "lower prices."
