During an earnings call today, CBS CEO Les Moonves is reported to have revealed that CBS had turned down an Apple TV service that would rely on advertising revenue.
When asked about CBS’s appetite for striking deals with new streaming providers that might not have the money to pay cash upfront to license its content, Moonves said that CBS had decided against joining an Apple TV service because it was based on an ad split.
Apple has been long rumored to be working on some sort of TV subscription service over the past few years. A Wall Street Journal article from December, 2009 described one possible iteration of the service:
The proposed service by the maker of iPhones and iPod music players could, in at least some scenarios, offer access to some TV shows from a selection of major U.S. television networks for a monthly fee, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Such a service, of course, has never launched. But it's not clear if that particular plan was canceled or is awaiting the arrival of a full Apple television.
Rumors of a full blown Apple TV set were recently revived after Steve Jobs' biography quoted Jobs as saying he had "finally cracked" the problems standing in the way of an Apple television set.
Apple today provided developers with the third betas of upcoming watchOS 26.5, tvOS 26.5, and visionOS 26.5 betas for testing purposes. The software comes a week after Apple released the second betas for each platform.
The software updates are available through the Settings app on each device, and because these are developer betas, a free developer account is required.
There's no word on ...
Apple is finally planning to release The Savant, an Apple TV series that it delayed following the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
The Savant is set to air in July 2026, according to Variety. The Apple TV show was supposed to come out on Friday, September 26, 2025, but Apple decided not to release it due to the topic and the political climate.
When the series was pulled, star Jessica...
Apple today announced that its hit sci-fi series "Silo" is returning for a third season starting Friday, July 3, and it shared a teaser trailer.
"Silo" follows the lives of 10,000 people living in an underground bunker to escape the seemingly toxic wasteland outside. The people are unaware of why the silo was built, and those who seek the truth face deadly consequences. Rebecca Ferguson...
I cut the cord 2 months ago and it was the best thing I've ever done. A Macbook Pro, iPad, and Apple Tv are all I need. CBS is making a huge mistake. There's a new subscription world upon us and either they embrace it or people will steal content. I'm not paying over $100 for Hillbilly Handfishing and the rest of the garbage they feed us. Oh and I also haven't seen a commercial in 2 months!!
Networks have gotten so use to getting paid twice on content (selling access to providers then selling ad space) I say good riddance to them all. There's a need for a new standard for delivering content and it's not going to break my heart when these greedy corps die because they can't change.
I think I’d rather pay (or even view-with-ads) on a per-show basis than per-network. Support current quality shows that tend to fade into cancellation, and boycott the endless reality clones!
(I’ve never opted for cable, but my iMac does have HD rabbit ears!)
During an earnings call today, CBS CEO Les Moonves is reported to have revealed that CBS had turned down an Apple TV service that would rely on advertising revenue. 
