Online video gets more tempting, confusing with NFL and Showtime

Another day, another set of announcements that seem to herald the end of cable TV. But June 4th’s news that the NFL would finally live-stream a game and that Showtime would be available as a streaming service through Apple only highlight that some aspects of the cable-TV model are not going to die easily. The deals are the latest examples of change as the entertainment industry scrambles to serve new audiences -- young viewers who want to watch on mobile devices, and older viewers who want to scrap bloated and expensive cable contracts. All that change is making the overall picture fuzzier for the consumer, though, as a confusing array of options and costs seems to grow more complicated every day.

One hang-up has been the ability to secure deals for local programming. The big networks don’t always own local owned and operated TV stations. Apple also has hit snags in using a technology to bring those local broadcast signals into their streaming service. CBS chief Leslie Moonves said he was close to reaching a deal with Apple and was excited about the prospects of its streaming slim bundle of channels. But the main sticking point was “money.” “Apple TV is trying to change the universe,” Moonves said. He said he believed CBS deserved a bigger portion of revenue from “skinny bundles” than it gets from cable packages.