A new Apple TV box is expected. It is hard to believe that Apple TV was first announced 20 years go, initially as iTV. It will be the fourth generation of the media player, coming four years after the last update. Meanwhile, an update is also expected to the Google TV Streamer. Will this bring more conversational intelligence to the television experience?
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The leaders of the four public service broadcasters in the United Kingdom appeared on stage at a recent conference in London to set out their vision for the future of television. The heads of the BBC, ITV, Channel 4, and 5 were speaking at the London Convention of the Royal Television Society. They talked about collaboration, but their future may be more about separating production and selecting distribution partners.
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Paramount has completed the acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery to create a combined company named Skydance. The latest in a long line of media mega mergers aims to build a next-generation global media and entertainment company powered by creativity and technology. The combined company brings together two major film studios, two global streaming services, premier television assets including Paramount, Warner Bros., HBO and HBO Max, Paramount+, Pluto TV, CBS, CNN, CBS Sports, TNT Sports, Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, MTV, Food Network, BET, HGTV, and Comedy Central, not to mention Channel 5 in the United Kingdom.
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Vodafone TV is now available in the United Kingdom, bringing together Freely with online video services and other entertainment through a set-top box powered by Netgem. It marks the latest attempt by Vodafone to add television to its connectivity proposition, more than a decade after it first planned to launch a television service in the United Kingdom.
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BT is bringing back the BT TV brand, less than three years after it became EE TV. The name may be returning, but the proposition is even more familiar. BT TV is not so much a new television service as the latest iteration of a proposition that BT has been pursuing for two decades. We may have seen this movie before.
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Amazon has introduced a new Fire TV Stick 4K, running its Vega operating system and promising faster access to programming than the built-in interfaces of leading smart televisions. This suggests that even as almost every television sold today is smart, there may still be a role for relatively inexpensive plug-in products that can upgrade the viewing experience.
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