Scalper1 News
YouTube, the video website of Alphabet ( GOOGL )-Google, aims to roll out a new paid subscription service called “Unplugged” that would offer customers a bundle of cable TV channels streamed over the Internet, says a report. The Bloomberg report comes after Hulu on Monday disclosed plans to stream live content from two of its parents, 21 st Century Fox ( FOXA ) and Walt Disney ( DIS ). Comcast ( CMCSA ), the third co-owner of Hulu and owner of NBC Universal, was not included in the initial plans. CBS ( CBS ) has its own stand-alone Web service to consumers. The Bloomberg “Unplugged” report notes that Google’s YouTube has not secured programming rights for the online video service. Speculation over YouTube “Unplugged” also comes amid a firefight over federal regulators’ proposal to open up the pay TV set-top box market to more competition. Comcast, AT&T ( T ) and others object to the Federal Communications Commission’s set-top box proposal . They’ve charged that it might favor Google. The FCC says that only pay TV subscribers will gain access to programming, and that copyright protections will be preserved. Google, critics say, aims to swap its own advertising for the local ads sold by cable TV companies. Fox, Disney, CBS and Time Warner ( TWX ) have objected to the FCC proposal. According to the Bloomberg “Unplugged” report, YouTube has overhauled its technical architecture for the live product, slated to arrive as soon as 2017. Google last month introduced YouTube Red, which costs $10 monthly. It features movies, original content and other fare. Fox, Comcast-NBCU and CBS agreed to provide YouTube Red with content, while Disney did not. Hulu competes with Netflix ( NFLX ) and Amazon.com ( AMZN ) in the subscription video-on-demand sector. Dish Network ( DISH ) offers Sling TV, and has been gaining more content partners, including Fox. Scalper1 News
Scalper1 News