The following video is from this week's installment of The Motley Fool's Weekly Tech Review, in which Alison Southwick sits down with analysts Eric Bleeker and Lyons George to look at the biggest stories driving the tech sector this week.
The future of television was once again in focus this week. First off, there was a report from former Wall Street Journal reporter Jessica Lessin that Apple (AAPL -0.35%) is actively pitching a television service that would allow viewers to skip ads but would offer compensation back to television networks for the skipped ads.
Not to be outdone, reports also surfaced that Google (GOOGL 10.22%) has been actively pitching an online TV service to media companies. Both of these reports come hot on the heels of Intel's (INTC -9.20%) own negotiations to offer an Internet-based television service through an internally designed set-top box.
As Eric and Lyons discuss in the following video, all of these services show one thing in common: no cost savings for consumers. They're all focused around more "premium ideas" for the future of television. Intel has reportedly been offering as much as 75% more than the rates channels currently receive from cable. Likewise, Google's deal isn't focused on cost savings, and Apple's has built-in costs for commercial skipping. Instead, the "selling point" for all these services is on a better experience for the television viewer, whether through ideas like ad-skipping or more intuitive user interfaces. No one has ever accused today's cable programming menus of being works of art, which leaves room for technology companies like Apple and Google to improve the television experience.
That means consumers hoping to see an "un-bundling" of cable will very likely be disappointed by whatever final deal companies like Intel and Apple can strike. The future of television will likely be a better experience, but with media companies holding firm in negotiations, it won't be cheaper either. To see Eric and Lyons' full thoughts, watch the video.
