Apple may be about to take on Sony’s PlayStation Vue by offering paid TV channels which customers can stream online, according to new research.
According to Recode, industry executives are saying that Apple is currently in talks with TV content providers with the view to offer an ‘over-the-top’ pay TV service that customers would be able to access online.
Recode’s sources also say that Apple has shown a demo of the proposed service to these programmers as well.
However, talks still seem to be in “early stages” according to Recode, so it’s unlikely we’ll hear anything concrete about a price or release date any time soon.
Currently, Apple TV only offers a selection of movies and TV shows as well as built-in Netflix, but this proposed web TV service would likely offer content from specific channels which you’d then watch using Apple’s own interface.
Meanwhile, rival Sony is also getting ready to launch a similar service in the US with its web TV platform PlayStation Vue.
So far, it’s been confirmed that Vue will launch with around 75 channels at launch, with CBS, Discovery Communications, Fox, NBC Universal and Viacom all on board to provide both live ‘linear’ TV shows as well as three-day catch-up services on popular programmes.
PlayStation Vue is expected to launch in the US sometime in the first quarter of 2015, but there’s been no word yet on whether the service will be making its way to the UK.