Cord cutters are increasingly ditching their conventional cable packages in favor of online TV streaming services that offer greater flexibility at lower prices. Apple is going to compete in this market as well with the launch of its streaming service on March 25th. However, when the service does arrive, it won’t offer any live sports.
Apple’s Eddy Cue told Sports Illustrated in an interview that there was “not a lot” of thought among the team about competing with Amazon and Facebook to win rights to stream live games. Cue also pointed out that sports rights are “deeply fragmented” with variables like the sport, the way they’re being watched, and the viewers’ location.
Apple didn’t want to get into any of that so it has instead focused on delivering notifications for important games through its TV app. It will also guide users to other apps that can provide live coverage of sports. This won’t surprise people who have been following the news about Apple’s TV service for some time now.
The company’s service is intended to be more original content heavy instead of being a platform where you just watch streaming TV like Sling or PlayStation Vue. He didn’t shut the door on it completely, though, saying that “That’s not to say we would never do sports, because who the heck knows.”
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