Apple on Wednesday updated one of my favorite and most used products—Apple TV. In a software update released today, Apple added a number of new “channels” to the including including HBO GO and WatchESPN.
According to Apple HBO GO gives users unlimited access to HBO programming, including bonus features and special behind-the-scenes extras. You will need an HBO subscription through your television provider.
WatchESPN provides users with live access to ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3 and ESPN Buzzer Beater/Goal Line to those who receive ESPN’s networks as part of their video subscription from affiliated providers. Sports fans will also get curated on-demand content from ESPN.
Apple also added Sky News on the Apple TV for users in US, UK and Ireland; Crunchyroll, a video service for Japanese Anime and Asian media; and Qello, an on-demand streaming service for HD concerts and music documentaries. You can sign-up for Crunchyroll and Qello on the Apple TV.
According to Apple, iTunes users have downloaded more than one billion TV episodes and 380 million movies from iTunes to date, and they are purchasing over 800,000 TV episodes and over 350,000 movies per day.
Those are incredible numbers and I think it shows Apple is on the right track with its iTunes and Apple TV offerings. It also shows that there is a lot of room for growth in this market and it’s good to see Apple taking advantage of its infrastructure to bring new programming options to users.
The Apple TV is one of the most used entertainment devices in my house. My entire family takes advantage of movie rentals, TV show purchases and channels like Netflix on an almost daily basis. Adding this type of content will only further that usage for us.
Patiently hoping for Amazon Prime Video….
“You will need an HBO subscription through your television provider.” HA HA HA HA HA (Jim laugh track)
Happy to see Crunchyroll at last, though its absence is one thing that’s driven me to neglect the Apple TV in favor of the Roku. Also worth noting that the vast majority of Crunchy’s programming is free-with-ads (subscribing gets you HD, no ads, and simulcasts without the two-week delay), so if you are at all interested in anime or J- and K-dramas, it’s a significant source of new free programming.
would be nice if they could add BBC iPlayer, not only US specific updates
I’m really excited about Crunchyroll’s addition to the Apple TV – saves me the hassle of having to do AirPlay streaming over my Mac or iPad.
Just FYI, Crunchyroll’s addition to the Apple TV is subscription-only. They’ll give you a one week free trial (instead of the two week you get through their Web site), but beyond that, you have to subscribe to get the content. No ad-supported Crunchyroll service through Apple TV.
I wonder what is the absolute cheapest cable/dish plan that you can get that will give you HBO and ESPN…
You need one for WatchESPN as well. I’m on it daily and it requires I sign in with my Comcast credentials.
Yeah, I just got my Apple TV updated and saw that. Big disappointment that there’s so little free content. Guess I’m going to give out some of the Crunchy gift passes I’ve accumulated, and then go back to recommending Roku and Crunchy’s iOS app (where freeloaders still get access to most of the library)
Great, I totally cut my cord, which the Apple TV totally makes possible, and now I can’t get something because I need a cable subscription? FAIL!
Depending on your ISP, logging in with your ISP credentials will get you access to some ESPN streaming content.
Yeah, we’ve had discussions at my ISP for ESPN, but they are not going to get it. That’s kind of a wormhole for an ISP…
“WatchESPN provides users with live access to ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN3 and ESPN Buzzer Beater/Goal Line to those who receive ESPN’s networks as part of their video subscription from affiliated providers.”
From affiliated providers is the key word there.
not going to happen. direct competitor to iTunes Store so I doubt they’ll do it.
Maybe, but Hulu and Netflix compete with iTunes to some extent for rentals and Amazon does have music and video players for iOS.
Very interesting post from the CEO at my ISP on this type of ISP subscription model:
http://corp.sonic.net/ceo/2010/06/16/full-circle/
I just don’t see much benefit of WatchESPN or HBO Go if you still have to have a cable account where you get these channels.