Peter Kafka, writing for re/code:

Industry executives say Apple has spent much of 2015 pushing for a “skinny” bundle of TV channels — limited to perhaps a dozen core networks — delivered over the Web, which would retail for no more than $30.

So while the price of the individual channels that Apple wants to package has been an issue, it’s the composition of the package itself — which channels go in and which don’t make the cut — that is just as important to both Apple and the programmers, according to sources.

If Apple gets its way, it means the traditional pay TV package, which averages around 100 channels, will get shrunk by nearly 80 percent. And while TV executives will say they understand that consumers don’t want to pay for channels they don’t watch, all of them will argue that their channels are must-haves.

It’s fascinating watching the brave new TV world unfold before our very eyes. We’re still very much in the “before” stage. But most of the pieces that will make up the future are starting to appear. There are the networks, the new content creators (HBO, Netflix, Amazon, etc.), the watch centers (places like Twitch, Periscope, etc., all designed for people to watch events over the net), and aggregators like YouTube, Hulu and, of course, Apple TV, just to name a few.

What’s not yet clear is how these pieces will be configured. Perhaps it will start as a free-for-all, a wild west of content with no discernible organization, where the only overarching TV guide is your search engine. But, I suspect, there will ultimately be a consolidation, an organizing mechanism that brings order to the chaos.

Interesting times.