Apple TV Streaming Service Due For Christmas Despite Content Deals Hold Up

With Apple’s dominance in the tech world and their financial muscle growing, it’s looking like their venture into online TV streaming has encountered a number of difficulties despite setting a end of year launch.

The New York Post is reporting that Apple is proceeding with plans to launch their own streaming TV service by Christmas – despite making little progress in striking deals with various content providers.

The company’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, Eddy Cue, has been leading talks with content providers for the last couple of months. However, they have been reluctant to proceed with negotiations, mostly due to the company’s efforts to control all aspects of the video service, including pricing and content.

Apple is proposing the idea of offering channels as apps for its devices, such as its iOS devices and their TV set-top box. It’s has yet to be confirmed how the service will charge users for their service, whether it’s offering the channels on an a la carte basis, or group the apps together and charge a main subscription fee.

Currently, Apple’s iTunes allows users to rent and download TV shows, but the company is aiming to add a streaming video option over the web, similar to many other TV networks. According to the Post’s unnamed sources, the company has been fighting the battle on multiple fronts, pitching to telecom companies such as AT&T and Verizon as well as cable companies to try and convince them to use their devices instead of their own cable boxes.

Apple are hoping that breaking a deal with one large player will result in other companies following suit. Apparently they tried offering a similar idea back in 2009 but failed as they wanted to share in the ad revenue rather than pay a distribution fee like Netflix and other streaming video providers. At the moment, TV executives are reluctant to partner with Apple, meaning that the company mightn’t become a part of the pay-TV industry, which is valued at $150 billion.