Apple’s live TV service ‘on hold,’ CBS chief says

“They’ve had conversations on it, and I think they pressed the hold button”, Moonves said during a conference hosted by Business Insider in New York City.

“We have a year of poltical advertising that looks like it’s shaping up to be pretty phenomenal”, Moonves said at the UBS Media conference on Monday. Apple’s subscription service would reportedly allow viewers to select and pay for a mini-bundle of network and cable channels.

The company was, not surprisingly, unable to reach deals with video content owners to offer a modest video package for $30 to $40 per month.

“This will happen”, Moonves said.

Moonves’ previous optimism aside, it’s worth noting that numerous more recent rumblings regarding an Apple TV service have all centered on the challenges Apple needs to overcome in getting such a subscription service up off the ground.

The company will instead use the Apple TV app store as a place where media companies can sell content directly to consumers, says a report Tuesday from Bloomberg, citing a single unnamed source. Verizon Communications Inc. has also begun offering a so-called skinny bundle, where customers can choose from among a menu of channels.

We’ve heard this rumour for a few years now: to lure cord cutters and make its Apple TV more enticing, Apple planned to launch a live web TV service comprised of top channels. Moonves stated that Apple and CBS were close to agreeing on a $35 per month price point before Apple backed out and made a decision to reconsider. “The more they spend, the better it is for us”.

Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal.