Apple Television Systems Look To Offer Extremely Customizable Content

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Chances are, if you’re a cable or dish subscriber–be it DirecTV or Dish Network–you’ve looked at your packages with something like dismay. Sure, you’ve wanted to step up to try Chiller, or Cloo, or something similar, but it’s been on an upper tier package jammed full of dreck you don’t want, like an additional fifteen ESPNs. Apple, though, is looking at doing something significantly different, and no doubt welcome to disgruntled television viewers everywhere: customizable channel offerings.

We’ve been hearing a lot about the Apple television–just recently we heard that they were looking to include something approximately similar to an A5 chip to power the whole thing–and this just adds on to the stack. But what Apple wants to do is what a lot of users out there have been no doubt hoping for for a long time, what amounts to a la carte programming, in that you get to select the channels you want, and leave out the stuff you don’t want. Apple looks to offer this up for a monthly subscription fee, much like cable does, with the key distinction that this time you get to pick a number of channels (or even individual shows) you want, up to a maximum number, instead of whatever hash the provider cobbled together.

Of course, this isn’t exactly innovative. People have wanted this ever since there was cable to watch in the first place, but the problem here is not one of technology or execution, it’s one of rights and licenses and intellectual property and lawyers. And while this will no doubt be a substantial hurdle for even Apple to overmaster, there are two important points to bear in mind here.

One, this is Apple. Apple has a massive, loyal user base, which means a whole lot of eyeballs in the waiting for advertising. That’s a market anyone would want access to.

Two, this is Apple. Apple also has a massive stash of ready cash which it can use to woo content providers away from their current deals. And that’s what they’re going to really need to pull this off.

Naturally, if they manage to do this, they’re going to have a serious competitive advantage, but the question is, can they even pull it off? What will they have to do to get it? And would you pay more for a television that could provide that kind of programming freedom? Lots of room for discussion here, folks, so head on down to the comments section and let’s get started!