For now, the talks don’t involve NBCUniversal, owner of the NBC broadcast network and cable channels like USA and Bravo, due to a falling-out between Apple and NBCUniversal parent company Comcast, the report said. Apple and Comcast were in talks last year on a streaming TV platform that would combine Apple’s expertise in user interfaces with Comcast’s strength in broadband delivery. Apple came to believe that Comcast was stringing it along while the cable giant focused on its own X1 web-enabled set-top box, according to the paper's sources.
Meanwhile, Apple has been talking to Walt Disney, CBS and 21st Century Fox, among other media companies. The idea is to offer consumers a "skinny" bundle with well-known channels like CBS, ESPN and FX, while leaving out the many smaller networks in the standard cable TV package. The company is aiming to announce its new service in June and launch it in September.
