AppleTV 4K and Apple Video Services.

Wait a minute, have Apple and ViacomCBS formed some kind of "streaming bundle" alliance? I wonder how that one would play out.

Not announced yet. This report appears to be the original source of the talk:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-13/apple-is-to-launch-first-discounted-video-content-bundle-for-tv

And here is the announcement:

https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2020/08/apple-tv-plus-subscribers-get-cbs-all-access-and-showtime-bundle-at-a-great-value/

I hope they do something similar over here, with who that would be i'm not sure.

We are still waiting for the Apple Card so I don't hold out much hope!

I’m looking to get an Apple TV 4K box through EE (Sky contract is at an end and they’re not offering a good deal... yet) and I’m impressed with the box having checked reviews online, however can anyone who has the box confirm whether the Now TV app ever got upgraded from its original form?

Sadly not yet, but an update is being tested, but as to deployment, that’s a complete unknown.

Interesting EM survey from Apple tonight focussing on the ATV4K clearly skewed to content. I might have got this wrong but I infer from the line of questioning that they're looking at content and extending options. Maybe looking to offer mainstream broadcasters the option of directly streaming via the AppleTV app rather than via their own. It'd be an interesting way of adding content the costs of which would be minimal to Apple considering their cash pile.

In a number of other countries you often get an OTT/IPTV app option alongside your 'cable' (often IPTV) subscription that lets you view the same services you get delivered via multicast IPTV (or DVB/ATSC cable) to your set-top box(es) on your phone, tablet OR Apple TV. This can be a very neat second-room solution with an Apple TV 4K - removing the need for cable companies to route coax or ethernet cabling to secondary viewing areas - and eventually letting them migrate to this delivery for all viewing (particularly in countries where FTTP or FTTH is widespread).

If Apple created a standard framework for live TV and catch-up - rather than operators having to create bespoke versions - that might work nicely (particularly if catch-up is properly integrated into ATV4K/iOS/iPadOS search)

Eir have gone one better than that and junked the tech they were using in favour of an Apple TV only solution, with cloud storage for DVR functionality. It’s not gone down well with some content providers though, who have decided they are no longer a “cable TV” service, but now an “OTT streaming service”, and prevented customers from using DVR functions in their content. Sad to say the BBC is one of those that have taken that view (as has Virgin Media, although they are their biggest competitor so are not exactly neutral in this matter).Its a big handicap for their customers against Sky and Virgin though, who have full DVR functionality for the content in question.

Finally after a lot of delay Sony TV's are to start getting the AppleTV app from today..

Apologies if this is something that’s been discussed previously, but what is the reason why so many catch up apps don’t allow AirPlay? So All4 for example - what possible reason do they have for not allowing me to AirPlay it through my pretty-old-but-still-functional Apple TV? I don’t get it, especially when there is an All4 TV app on many smarts TVs.

I would assume it’s a incredibly tedious copy protection thing in that the stream could be ‘intercepted’, in the same way they don’t allow HDMI-out from Android & iOS devices that support it.