Peter Kafka: ‘Apple’s New TV Plan Is a TV Guide’

Peter Kafka, writing for Recode:

Apple has started talking to TV programmers and other video companies about creating a digital TV guide that would work on both Apple TV boxes and other Apple devices, like iPhones. The idea is to let users see what kind of programming is available in video apps made by the likes of HBO, Netflix and ESPN, without having to open up each app individually, and to play shows and movies with a single click.

That is: Apple’s guide would tell you what’s on TV. Except now TV is apps. […]

But TV industry executives I’ve talked to view Apple’s plans as a mixed bag. They like the idea of making their individual shows easier to find, but they worry that moving consumers’ focus from their individual apps to a universal guide will reduce their power to promote their other shows.

The mindset of many TV executives is centered entirely around the special snowflake that is the channel they work for. In the real world, actual people just want to watch entertaining shows.

★ Thursday, 4 August 2016