Apple 'considering bid for Premier League TV rights'

[buksida]

Premier League coverage is seen as a way to boost sales of Apple TV and the iPad, according to the Daily Mail, which does not reveal its source for the story.

The report makes sense in light of rumours that Apple is planning to release a television set. The company obviously has the technology to make a TV but would need to offer compelling content.

The range of available television shows on the Apple TV box is limited in the UK and not much better in the US. Apple TV does not offer any live television at all.

Apple is rumoured to be planning to release 32 and 37-inch TV sets in the US next year, according to "industry sources" suppliers in Asia.

The company could certainly afford to bid for the Premier League rights. The last round of UK TV rights, for 2010 to 2013, sold for £1.7bn. Apple has almost $10bn (£6.4bn) in cash and around another $70bn (£45bn) in cash alternatives and marketable securities.

A bigger question is how useful Premier League rights would be to Apple. They would help to establish Apple TV in Britain, whether that means a stand-alone television or a set-top box, and would make it easier to lure customers away from Sky. But would Apple pay almost £2bn simply to establish their service in Britain?

Premier League TV rights would also have some value for the Asian market but in the US, where the rights currently belong to Fox and ESPN, the sport remains a minority interest.

There has been plenty of speculation over the couple of years that Apple would move into selling televisions, though the relatively slow sales of its Apple TV boxes suggested that the company didn't see TV as a priority.

However, Steve Jobs, Apple's late chief executive, told his biographer, Walter Isaacson, that he had "cracked" the problem of building a television. When the book was published, shortly after Steve Jobs died, rumours of an Apple TV intensified.

Source: The Telegraph

Thought: This would be bad, very bad - it would mean you'd have to pay Apple to watch a game which would only be viewable on an Apple device.

[JD]

Thought: This would be bad, very bad - it would mean you'd have to pay Apple to watch a game which would only be viewable on an Apple device.

As opposed to SKY TV of course. When they first purchased the Premier League broadcasting rights, you had to buy a satelite dish, a decoder and sign up for an extended channel, 12 month contract.

What next, The Google World Cup!!!