Apple’s proposed TV service may take awhile to get ready but it looks like it will include CBS when it launches.
Les Moonves Says CBS Will ‘Probably’ Sign Up for Apple’s New TV Service (Video)
“We’re excited about it.”
Asa Mathat for Re/code
Peter Kafka covered media and technology, and their intersection, at Vox. Many of his stories can be found in his Kafka on Media newsletter, and he also hosts the Recode Media podcast.
CBS CEO Les Moonves says his network will “probably” sign a deal with Apple to carry his network. “We’re very excited about it,” he told Kara Swisher at the Code Conference Wednesday morning. Moonves said that he met with Apple media boss Eddy Cue last week to discuss Apple’s plans, as part of an “ongoing conversation.”
Moonves said he didn’t know how long it would take to hammer out a deal or when Apple would launch its service. The main negotiating point? “Money.”
“Apple TV is trying to change the universe,” Moonves said, by offering a smaller bundle of TV networks, delivered over the Web, than pay TV providers traditionally sell. Moonves said Apple’s effort was similar to ones that have already launched from Dish Network’s Sling and Sony’s Vue.
“I think the age of the 200 channel universe is slowly dying,” Moonves said. “The good news for us, is any one of those groups will need CBS,” adding that his network will get a bigger proportion of whatever revenue those “skinny bundles” generate than it does in traditional packages.
This article originally appeared on Recode.net.
