Intel is in negotiations with content providers ahead of the launch of a new internet-based TV service that would offer both live and on demand content.
Announcing the move at the AllThingsDigital Dive into Media conference Tuesday, Erik Huggers, vice president and general manager of Intel Media said the division planned to offer smaller bundles that currently offered by cable networks.
“We’ll deliver a new consumer electronics product that will be bought directly from us or at retail under a new brand,” said Huggers, who previously ran the BBC’s Future Media division that included the BBC iPlayer. “We’re working with the entire industry to work out how we can deliver proper television to the consumer.”
As a chipmaker, Intel has supplied a number of providers with the technology to drive their own set-tops, such as the Atom chip that found its way into the Liberty Global/UPC Horizon set-top.
Intel is entering a market that already has Apple TV and Roku on the technology side and Netflix, Hulu, and a host of regional providers for content. This has resulted in something of a patchwork quilt of services with no one provider giving the whole gamut of available content in one market.
Huggers said he was confident of having a compelling offer ahead of the launch later this year.