 CBS Corp. and Walt Disney Co. are considering participating in Apple Inc.'s plan to offer television subscriptions over the Internet, according to people familiar with the matter, as Apple prepares a potential new competitor to cable and satellite TV.
– Apple is getting closer to launching an online television subscription service, and MG Siegler relishes the challenge it could pose to cable companies. “Just as Apple transformed the music industry thanks to the iTunes/iPod combination, and the mobile industry thanks to the iPhone, a device that offered all the television content over the Internet could force the cable companies to stop sucking,” he writes at TechCrunch. But that’s if Apple can get the networks on board. So far, CBS and Disney, which owns ABC, have shown interest, reports the Wall Street Journal. A “best of television” package is in the works, with a rumored $30-a-month fee that would grant users access to commercial-free shows. The lack of ads has many balking, and that's only one of a dozen headaches Apple would have to overcome. But there's a chance, and "I, for one, hope they’re able to blow up the cable industry," says Siegler.