Content deals delay Intel's Web TV plan

Intel's plan to offer set-top box with Internet-based TV services was put on the shelf as the chip-making giant could not reach agreements with content providers, U.S. media reported Wednesday. One person familiar with Intel's plan told The Wall Street Journal that the service might not arrive until as late as the fourth quarter of 2013, citing delays in reaching content- licensing agreements with entertainment companies that own major TV channels. Speculation about Intel's TV plan has intensified after some recent media reports expected the company to announce the service at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas next week. An entertainment company executive told The Wall Street Journal that his company and Intel were far from reaching an agreement on financial terms as Intel plans to license individual channels rather than the conventional pay-TV bundle. Entertainment companies usually license bundles of channels including both popular networks and lesser-known channels. So far, Intel has reached one content deal, but is still facing difficulties persuading other companies, according to the report. Meanwhile, content providers also feel skeptical on Intel's plan since it has little experience delivering products directly to the end user. Redefining consumer's living room experience, especially the traditional TV-watching, is expected to be the next battlefield tech giants will fight for and one of personal technology highlights in 2013. But content deals have been the major obstacle. Entertainment companies and TV distributors have been reluctant to let tech companies set foot on the territory, worrying about their current lucrative subscription system got undercut. For example, in 2010, three of the largest television networks in the United States started blocking Google TV users from watching video content on their web sites in less than one week since the device's release.