CBS will ‘probably’ sign Apple TV deal, if the money’s right

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Add CBS to the list of broadcasters ready to sign a deal for Apple TV
Add CBS to the list of broadcasters ready to sign a deal for Apple TV
Photo: Cult of Mac

The new Apple TV streaming service might not be launching as soon as we hoped, but when it does, CBS will probably be part of the package.

CBS CEO Les Moonves made an appearance at Recode’s Code Conference and revealed that he just met with Eddy Cue last week to talk about Apple’s upcoming plans. When asked whether CBS will be apart of the new service, Moongraves said “probably.” However, it’s going to take a lot of money to close the deal.

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“Apple TV is trying to change the universe,” Moonves said, with it’s offerings of skinny bundle TV packages that can be streamed to not only Apple TV, but also iOS devices and Macs. The new Apple TV service will be similar to Sling TV, according to Moonves. Previous rumors have claimed Apple is hoping to differentiate itself though by adding local broadcasting to the lineup.

“I think the age of the 200 channel universe is slowly dying,” Moonves told Recode’s Kara Swisher. He’s been awefully slow to imbrace the death of giant TV bundles though. Apple has supposedly been negotiating streaming rights for the new service since 2012. Broadcast executives have held a hard line with Apple though, realizing the Apple TV needs them, probably more than they need it.

Moonves said his network expects to get a bigger proportion of revenue generated from the ‘skinny bundles’ like Apple TV it signs up for. “The good news for us, is any one of those groups will need CBS.”

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