Apple TV got a step or two closer on Tuesday to becoming a replacement for cable with new content deals with ABC, AOL, PBS Kids and Willow TV.
ABC News launched a video app for Apple TV that will deliver a 24-hour video news channel; content will include about eight hours of live video per day. ABC promised live hourly updates plus video highlights from Good Morning America, Nightline and World News With Diane Sawyer. There will also be updates from nine major market ABC TV stations in the United States, plus 50 years of historical footage from ABC News' archives.
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Unlike the Watch ABC app that came to Apple TV in December, you don't need a cable subscription to watch ABC News.
“Our goal is to put our users in control of their news,” said Joe Ruffolo, SVP of ABC News Digital, in a statement. “We are very excited to be extending our leadership and innovation onto an amazing platform like Apple TV. Utilizing hours of live video each day, opening up our archives, extending our strong local brands, and bringing the trust of ABC News to our users when and where they want it.”
AOL also added a video channel on Apple TV that will house more than 900,000 videos culled from AOL properties like The Huffington Post and TechCrunch, as well as partners like the New York Times and ESPN. Other new channels include Willow TV, PBS Kids and a redesigned Flickr app. Willow TV, which broadcasts cricket matches, costs $15 a month. The rest are free.
The new channels join more than 40 that are currently on Apple TV, including Netflix, Hulu Plus, ESPN and the History Channel.
Apple has sold more than 20 million Apple TV devices since 2007, meaning it has a potential subscriber base on par with DirecTV. Apple TV rival Roku announced in January that it had shipped "just shy" of 8 million units at the time.
Google hasn't released sales figures for Chromecast, but Google SVP Sundar Pichai told SXSW attendees in March that the company has sold "millions."