CBS CEO Says Apple 'Pressed the Hold Button' on Its Subscription TV Service

Les Moonves, the CEO of CBS, revealed that Apple may have put its plan for a streaming subscription TV service on hold, at Business Insider's IGNITION conference in New York.

Today, Moonves said that Apple and CBS were close to settling on a price point of between $30 and $40 per month for these bundles — Moonves specifically mentioned the price point of $35 multiple times — before Apple decided to pause and reconsider.

"They've had conversations on it, and I think they pressed the hold button," Moonves said on stage.


Despite the reported pause, Moonves is confident that the industry will move to this model.

"This will happen," he said. "People will not be spending money on channels they don't want to watch."

Apple has long been rumored to be working on a streaming subscription service which could offer a skinny bundle of channels to users. One of the holdups is allegedly Apple's desire to have local TV as part of the service.

The company was initially looking for a 30% cut of subscription fees; however, past reports said the company would reduce that for Apple TV signups.


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