Disney and CBS remain mostly mum on reports that they're talking to Apple about participating in a new TV subscription service over the Internet.
The Wall Street Journal first broke news of the exploratory chats on Monday night. Insiders said it's premature to speculate on what may happen, as the congloms regularly kick the tires on new initiatives like this one.
But according to the paper, Apple is looking to enlist CBS and Disney, among others, to provide programming for the new service.
The service, targeted to launch in 2010, would give users the ability to access TV series on demand by paying a monthly fee (around $30). The Apple initiative is seen as a competitor to more traditional cable and satellite providers, as well as the video site Hulu, which is considering a subscription model as well. (Disney recently joined Hulu as a partner.)
Disney was an early adopter of Apple's iTunes store, becoming the first conglom to makes its programming available for sale as a download.
According to the WSJ, Apple would pay the congloms $2-$4 a month per subscriber for the right to offer programming from their broadcast nets. Under the proposal, CBS would provide programming from the Eye and the CW (which it co-owns with Time Warner); Disney would offer fare from ABC, Disney Channel and ABC Family.
Contact Michael Schneider at
mike.schneider@variety.com