Feb. 12, 2014 8:49 p.m. ET
Apple Inc. AAPL -0.01% Apple Inc. U.S.: Nasdaq $535.92 -0.04 -0.01% Feb. 12, 2014 4:00 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 10.94M AFTER HOURS $536.11 +0.19 +0.04% Feb. 12, 2014 7:59 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 81,840 P/E Ratio 13.21 Market Cap $478.07 Billion Dividend Yield 2.28% Rev. per Employee $2,163,820 02/13/14 Apple Says Suppliers Forgo a D... 02/12/14 Apple in Talks to Revamp Set-T... 02/12/14 New Apps Whisper and Secret Ca... More quote details and news » appears to be scaling back its lofty TV industry plans.
The company is talking to media companies and pay TV distributors including Time Warner Cable Inc. TWC +0.30% Time Warner Cable Inc. U.S.: NYSE $135.31 +0.41 +0.30% Feb. 12, 2014 4:00 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 2.14M AFTER HOURS $135.31 0.00 0.00% Feb. 12, 2014 4:28 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): 2,136 P/E Ratio 19.96 Market Cap $37.49 Billion Dividend Yield 2.22% Rev. per Employee $433,725 02/13/14 What the FCC Might Think on th... 02/13/14 A Look at Comcast and Time War... 02/13/14 Comcast Acquiring Time Warner ... More quote details and news » about launching a revamped Apple-branded TV set-top box in coming months, according to people familiar with the matter. Previously, the company had been trying to license TV programming for its own Internet-based TV service—similar to other "over the top" efforts from technology companies such as Sony Corp. 6758.TO -1.93% Sony Corp. Japan: Tokyo ¥1731 -34 -1.93% Feb. 13, 2014 2:34 pm Volume : 10.42M P/E Ratio 16.74 Market Cap ¥1767.82 Billion Dividend Yield 1.44% Rev. per Employee ¥52,180,800 02/12/14 Apple in Talks to Revamp Set-T... 02/09/14 'Lego' Snaps Into Box Office's... 02/09/14 'It's a Sony!' So What? More quote details and news » , Intel Corp. INTC +0.33% Intel Corp. U.S.: Nasdaq $24.55 +0.08 +0.33% Feb. 12, 2014 4:00 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 24.39M AFTER HOURS $24.42 -0.13 -0.53% Feb. 12, 2014 7:59 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): P/E Ratio 12.72 Market Cap $121.64 Billion Dividend Yield 3.67% Rev. per Employee $501,981 02/12/14 Apple in Talks to Revamp Set-T... 02/04/14 Intel Economist Sees Pollution... 02/03/14 Intel Unveils New Compensation... More quote details and news » and Google Inc. GOOG -0.29% Google Inc. Cl A U.S.: Nasdaq $1186.69 -3.49 -0.29% Feb. 12, 2014 4:00 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 1.71M AFTER HOURS $1185.05 -1.64 -0.14% Feb. 12, 2014 7:55 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): P/E Ratio 32.49 Market Cap $400.72 Billion Dividend Yield N/A Rev. per Employee $1,110,730 02/13/14 Dropbox Hires Google's Woodsid... 02/13/14 Tech Companies Push for Greate... 02/12/14 Apple in Talks to Revamp Set-T... More quote details and news »
In the current discussions, which involve at least two big media companies, Apple envisages working with cable companies, rather than competing against them, the people said. For programming, it would rely on cable providers to acquire programming rights from media companies, rather than acquire them on its own, the people said. Apple might consider seeking some rights directly in the future, one of the people said.
One of the people said Apple was aiming to release the new set-top box as early as June, though another cautioned the device might not be ready for several months after that.
Apple TV, a digital media player introduced in 2007, offers users access to iTunes movies on the larger screen of a television as well as streaming video from Netflix, Hulu and other online services. However, Apple TV's appeal to consumers as an alternative TV device has been limited by a paucity of live television offerings.
Over the past couple of years, Apple has pursued several ambitious paths to move deeper into the living room.
In 2012, the Journal reported that Apple was talking with cable operators like Time Warner Cable about a set-top box and was approaching media companies to gain rights for an ambitious Internet-based digital-video-recording service through the box. At the time, it was looking to offer full seasons of current shows, as well as live programming. Last year, it approached media companies with a proposal to pay extra for ad-free programming.
But it couldn't complete a deal. Programmers resisted the idea of ad-free TV, and Time Warner Cable balked at some of Apple's early proposals, which included Apple essentially taking over the cable operator's video-on-demand service. Comcast Corp. CMCSA +0.44% Comcast Corp. Cl A U.S.: Nasdaq $55.24 +0.24 +0.44% Feb. 12, 2014 4:00 pm Volume (Delayed 15m) : 7.95M AFTER HOURS $55.30 +0.06 +0.11% Feb. 12, 2014 6:40 pm Volume (Delayed 15m): P/E Ratio 21.57 Market Cap $142.79 Billion Dividend Yield 1.63% Rev. per Employee $501,217 02/13/14 What the FCC Might Think on th... 02/13/14 A Look at Comcast and Time War... 02/13/14 Comcast Acquiring Time Warner ... More quote details and news » , meanwhile, has been aggressively deploying its own next-generation set-top box dubbed the X1.
Apple's latest approach is far less ambitious. Instead of asking for full current seasons of shows, it is asking programmers for just the most recent five episodes of current-season shows—the standard for video-on-demand services in the TV industry, a person familiar with the matter said. Apple is also proposing to disable fast-forwarding on shows for three days after they air, which would protect TV channels.
It is unclear whether Apple would sell the box directly to customers, as it does with Apple TV, or reach a deal with a cable operator to distribute the box and lease it to customers. One of the people said cable operators are interested in saving money by not having to invest in buying set-top boxes if Apple were to sell boxes directly to consumers.
Bloomberg earlier Wednesday reported that Apple is in discussions with several distributors over an updated Apple TV set-top box that it aims to launch by Christmas.
Write to Shalini Ramachandran at shalini.ramachandran@wsj.com, Amol Sharma at amol.sharma@wsj.com and Daisuke Wakabayashi at Daisuke.Wakabayashi@wsj.com
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