Apple Pitches Ad-Skipping Feature to Media Companies for Rumored iTV

We have heard about the rumored Apple TV-set for a while now, but this latest news is definitely a juicy tidbit.  Jessica Lessin is reporting that Apple is currently pitching the idea of “ad skipping” to cable and media companies.  The ad skipping option would be offered as a premium service in what would likely be Apple’s next TV venture.

In recent discussions, Apple told media executives it wants to offer a “premium” version of the service that would allow users to skip ads and would compensate television networks for the lost revenue, according to people briefed on the conversations.

Apple’s conversations with cable and media companies have been reportedly going on for quite some time, however, this is the first we have heard of any specific details regarding the talks. The conversations between Apple and cable/media companies apparently have also started to really heat up, most recently at a conference in Sun Valley hosted by investment bank Allen & Co where both Apple CEO Tim Cook and Apple senior vice president Eddy Cue were last week.

Skipping advertisements isn’t necessarily a brand new idea, those of us with DVR’s have been doing it for quite some time, and with the advent of Dish Networks Hopper DVR it’s even easier skip commercials.  However, that only works for recorded programming, so it will be interesting to see the extent of the ability to skip advertisements with the rumored Apple TV (iTV) if the talks are successful.

Surely for the cable and media companies being compensated for people who are skipping over their ads sounds like a promising idea, I guess the question then becomes, “how much?”

While the current iteration of Apple TV, which sells for $99, has been doing pretty well recently in terms of sales, it will be interesting to see if Apple just builds upon the “media box” idea or whether they release a full-fledged iTV.  Either way, I’m excited to see what comes of all this.  I’m also hopeful that the cable and media companies will jump aboard the bandwagon sooner rather than later, because as much as it pains me to say this: Apple needs them to be onboard for the next-gen Apple TV/iTV to be a success.