It wasn’t just the updated Events channel that Apple TV got today, as Nat Geo TV just joined the channel list on your Apple TV home screen.

National Geographic and Nat Geo Wild have clubbed their content into this channel, creating a blend of nature and science. The channel looks to be similar to the Nat Geo TV iOS app. Here is the description of the app:

Watch your favorite National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo WILD shows the day after they air. Sign in with your TV Provider account and never miss an episode from top shows on the National Geographic Channel and Nat Geo WILD including:

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNEL: Life Below Zero, Ultimate Survival Alaska, Wicked Tuna, Brain Games, Live Free or Die

NAT GEO WILD: The Incredible Dr. Pol, Dr. Oakley Yukon Vet, Dr. K’s Exotic Animal E.R., Big Cat Week, Pond Stars

The channel comes in three different sections – Featured tab, with curated picks for shows, episodes and clips; Shows tab with full episodes of National Geographic and Nat Geo Wild station TV shows, added the day after they are aired and Categories tab which includes Animals, People, History, Travel, Adventure, Science, Technology and more.

Like many others, the Nat Geo TV does require you to sign in with a supported cable operator account, if you’ve to enjoy full length episodes. Without a cable subscription, users can access some free clips.

NAT GEO TV currently supports many TV providers including Xfinity, Time Warner Cable, AT&T U-Verse, Optimum, Suddenlink, Mediacom, WOW! and many more. Visit natgeotv.com/TVEverywhere for our full list of supported TV Service Providers.

Hopefully, we will be able to cut the cord completely when Apple comes up with their rumoured TV subscription service, which will include both online content and local cable stations.

If you are not into the Nat Geo TV stuff, you can hide the icon and organize your Apple TV home screen by following our guide on How to easily hide unwanted channel icons on Apple TV.

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It’s not over, people! Yet another channel made it to Apple TV screens in the form of CBS News. It is really overwhelming to find that the channel appeared on Apple TV just hours after it was unveiled, and even before it hit the App Store and Google Play store.

The CBSN service is supposedly a direct competitor to the HuffPost Live, as it brings the hottest news for streaming in real time. You can keep up with the latest happenings, on all weekdays from 9 am to 12 night, right on your Apple TV. In addition, it brings VOD contents of previous programs like CBS This Morning, CBS Evening News, 60 Minutes, 48 Hours, Sunday Morning and Face the Nation.

Besides the CBSN service, the channel also provides access to other CBS affiliated streams like those from CBS Sports and Entertainment Tonight.

The best part is that you can access all of these contents for free. Yes, there is no subscription charges or the need to login via cable operator accounts. However, the catch is that you’ll have to bear with some ads in between, which might just be the deal breaker for many cord cutters.

The channel should be automatically available to all users by now or else, you can try updating your firmware or rebooting your Apple TV.

The features include

• Live, anchored coverage from 9:00 AM – midnight ET every weekday;
• Simulcasts of CBS News special reports for breaking news;
• Additional content from a range of CBS sources including CBS News, CBS affiliate stations, CNET, CBSSports.com, Entertainment Tonight and more;
• Accessibility across key connected TV devices including Amazon Fire TV, Roku players, Roku TV and others, as well as additional core CBS News digital platforms including CBSNews.com, its mobile website and the newly launched CBS News app for Windows 8/8.1 and Windows Phone 8/8.1 available through the Windows Store and Windows Phone Store. CBSN will also be available on the CBS News apps for Android and other leading platforms before the end of the year.
• Personal choice and control through DVR-like functionality that enable viewers to watch the segments they’re interested in or tune into the live programming seamlessly;
• The ability to share content from the experience via social media accounts with compatible devices;
• The opportunity for advertisers to reach engaged news consumers with custom ad integrations.

To all those who’ve been doubting the future of Apple’s set top box, it’s time to take a deep breath and wait.

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At the Time Warner annual investor meeting, Richard Plepler, the CEO of HBO, announced that the company will launch a standalone HBO streaming service in 2015, enabling HBO fans to finally cut the cord. And according to analysts, this might be the break the set-top box industry, especially the Apple TV, has been waiting for.

Though the details were scarce, Plepler did mention that the service will begin with “current partners” and from the looks of it, that could directly refer to Apple. HBO’s current streaming service is HBO Go, which requires you to sign in with a supported cable subscription account for access. It is already available on iOS devices and on Apple TV, making Cupertino a worthy candidate to be the above mentioned partner.

New Apple TV in 2015 rumors. HBO offering stand-alone subscription in 2015. Hmmmmmm…

— Serenity Caldwell (@settern) October 15, 2014

Also, Plepler specifically mentions that:

There are 80 million homes that do not have HBO and we will use all means at our disposal to go after them.

With well over 20 million Apple TVs out in the world, the Apple set-top box seems to be HBO’s best route into the cord-cutting industry.

Besides, the Apple TV 4 is expected to come out in early 2015, which is roughly the same time when HBO new streaming service will be launched.

We have long been hearing that Apple is having serious discussions with HBO (Time Warner) to bring their content to Apple TV and it seems, they have finally struck a deal.

Exact details regarding the release date, subscription rates and whether the whole HBO catalog will be available over the service, are still a mystery. However with a network like HBO coming forward to break the cable-only norm, it will surely force the competition to follow. Hence, it is likely that we will see more media giants doing the same in the coming weeks and hopefully, the Apple TV 4 will come packed with them all.

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Apple has sent out invites for their special event to be held tomorrow. It is expected that Apple will unveil the next generation iPad Air, new Macs and release OS X Yosemite at the event. Though the initial rumors placed Apple TV 4 for an early 2015 launch, the tagline of the event’s invite, “It’s been way too long” gives some hope to Apple TV fans too. Read more here.

The latest beta of Apple TV 7.0.1 software turned Apple TV into the master of HomeKit, so there will be no surprise if Apple announce something regarding this topic too.

If you aren’t one of the handful of lucky media persons who received the invite, you can catch a live stream of the event on any of your Apple devices, including the Apple TV.

It’s been way too long.
Join us here at apple.com/live on October 16 at 10 a.m. PDT to watch our special event live.
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The Events channel, added in the first week of September for the iPhone 6 event, is no longer available on Apple TV. This channel will likely make a reappearance tomorrow and will bring the live stream of the Apple special event to your living room. As usual, the event will begin at 10 am PDT (create a reminder).

As you might remember, Apple’s stream of the iPhone 6 event was so buggy that it was practically unwatchable. Apple engineers are probably working hard to prevent a recurrence and hopefully, you’ll get a better view of Tim, Phil and Craig this time.

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Now TV is Sky’s internet broadcasting service, available exclusively in the United Kingdom. Already available in over 50 different devices, the ‘complete Now TV channel’ finally makes its way to Apple TV.

The service is unique in the sense that it enables you to completely cut the cord, by not requiring a physical cable subscription to Sky’s Dish service. Instead you can just subscribe to their channel packs directly within the Apple TV, the packs being Sky Sports, Sky Entertainment (TV) and Sky Movies.

The Sky Sports Day Pass has been available on Apple TV since December 2013 for £9.99/24 hrs. The other two packs just got added yesterday thereby completing the Now TV service. The Entertainment Month Pass is available for £4.99 and the Movies Month Pass for £9.99.

With the Entertainment Month Pass, you can dive right into a great selection of shows. Enjoy every Boardwalk Empire episode ever, discover new shows like Legends with Sean Bean (we just hope his character stays alive…) or The Leftovers, the show everyone is talking about from HBO. You can also indulge in the best boxsets with Lost, Mad Men, Hannibal and many more.

If Movies are more your thing, or want the best of both worlds, you can enjoy the likes of Gravity, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, Philomena and award-winning American Hustle. Plus, you can look forward to Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit and Spike Lee’s Oldboy joining the line-up this Friday. And, yes, we’ll keep adding more, with up to four premieres every Friday.

The passes come with a 30-day free trial after which you are charged automatically through your iTunes account.

It is worth noting that Now TV is looking upon a 40% hike in subscription charges starting October 16th. So if you’ve been holding on for a subscription, now would be a good time to take it.

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Judging from the reports so far, Apple is planning a huge keynote for this Tuesday. They’ve chosen to build a tall new building for the event (in front of the Flint Center), as opposed to the usual Yerba Buena Center and its Town Hall Theatre. Also it is worth remembering what Eddy Cue commented on this year’s releases, “the best product pipeline I’ve seen in 25 years.” Though we can never be sure, it is expected that Apple will release two new models of iPhone and an iWatch at the event, along with iOS 8 HomeKit and HealthKit.

Unfortunately, there is not enough speculations suggesting an impending Apple TV refresh. In fact, you may have to wait till early next year to get your hands on the Apple TV 4, according to this rumor.

However if it is any consolation, Apple TV users will be able to live stream the event on Tuesday. If things follow as before, Apple TV will gain a new channel called Apple Events in a couple days, which will bring the live keynote to your television.

Live video from our special event will be right here. And so will a whole lot more.
Join us at Apple.com on September 9 at 10 a.m. PDT to follow every moment.
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The event is scheduled to be held on September 9th, at 10am PST. Apple has a countdown setup at the announcement page with a link to easily add a calendar event. If you think you’ll be enjoying the keynote, be sure to make use of that.

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The Showtime Anytime iOS app has been available for some time now and they have finally decided to come up with one for the Apple TV too. Hence, Showtime Anytime becomes the latest one to join the long list of Apple TV channels, just after FOX Now, CNBC and NFL Now.

Showtime Anytime is a popular cable and network provider whose contents include both live broadcast and on-demand shows. Though some free streams are available for non-subscribers, the crux of the content is only available to those who sign up with a supported cable provider and have an active subscription with Showtime Anytime.

Supported TV providers include AT&T U-Verse, Bright House Networks, Comcast Xfinity, Cox, DIRECTV, Optimum, Time Warner Cable, Verizon FiOS, and a lengthy list of regional providers as well. In addition to a TV subscription, unlocking live TV and full content also requires an active subscription to the Showtime network.

For subscribers, this means you can start streaming your favourite TV Shows like Homeland, Ray Donovan, Penny Dreadful, Masters of Sex, Shameless, Dexter, House of Lies, Nurse Jackie, Weeds, Californication and more, on your Apple TV starting today.

However, if you’re too much overwhelmed with the new channels and have unused apps on your Apple TV home screen, you can click here for our guide on How to easily hide unwanted channel icons on Apple TV.

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Just a  week after getting added to the WatchESPN iOS app, the SEC and Longhorn programmes are now available on the Apple TV channel too. Both streams deal with college sports and should enable students to follow their teams’ games via Apple TV.

SEC content on WatchESPN is a result of the quite recent partnership between SouthEastern Conference Network and ESPN, which will be covering over 1000 games each year in 21 of their sporting events. The content is distributed as SEC Network which is the same stream as their television channel and the SEC Network+ which features extra content.

SEC Network + — exclusively available on SECNetwork.com and via WatchESPN — will add live and on-demand coverage of more than 550 digital-exclusive sporting events to the SEC Network multi-screen output in the first year. Ranging across multiple sports from all member schools, SEC Network + events will all be high-quality, multi-camera productions – enabled by extensive new technological and production capabilities built out by ESPN and SEC schools in support of the SEC Network launch.

Longhorn Network has been around for about 4 years now and deals exclusively with broadcasts of University of Texas athletic meets.

The Longhorn Network features events from 20 different sports involving the Texas Longhorns athletics department, along with original and historical programming. The network also features academic and cultural content from the UT Austin campus.

However cord-cutters won’t be able to enjoy these programmes as both SEC and Longhorn require you to sign in via a supported cable subscription accounts.

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We have been hearing about the NFL Now channel for Apple TV since the beginning of this month and two weeks back, the NFL Now app appeared on iOS devices. “A companion channel on the Apple TV [was] expected to launch later [that] day” and we have been waiting since. Though a bit late, the NFL Channel is finally out on Apple TV.

The channel sports three tabs namely NFL Now, Series and Highlights. The first one shows you the most popular and featured football videos while Series deals with NFL’s own shows; Highlights does exactly what it sounds like.

Football fans should be excited because the 2014-2015 NFL season is starting early next month. Via the app you will be able to watch match highlights, live events, press conferences, NFL exclusive shows, contents from NFL clubs and more.

You can also subscribe to the NFL Now Plus service for 2 dollars a month to gain access to in-game highlights, NFL Films and custom streams.

However, you won’t be able to cut the cord completely, because the channel doesn’t provide live streaming of NFL matches. DirecTV has announced that Sunday Ticket won’t be available on the NFL Now service, at least for this season.

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Apple TV is getting overwhelmed with new channels. It’s hardly been a week since the FX Now and CNBC apps made it into Apple TV, when new rumors have emerged on the imminent launch of the NFL Now channel. The above picture was taken by an NFL employee and shows the channel in testing on an Apple TV.

The NFL Now service was launched earlier this year to bring a personalized library of on-demand news, features, highlights, live streaming of press conferences and other events, and more. It was announced that the service will be available on the web and on mobile devices, but this is the first time we are hearing about a dedicated Apple TV channel.

Here’s what the channel has to offer.

– Original Content Created for NFL Now: From the NFL Media studios in Los Angeles, NFL Now will create original content — news updates, shows, features, and more — designed specifically for digital platforms.

– Highlights of NFL Action:NFL Now will have extensive highlights of the best plays from NFL games, including a premium instant highlights service during the game window. Subscribers will be able to follow along with the action so they never miss a big play by their favorite team or fantasy players. After games end, relive the highlights from every game.

– Content Produced by NFL Clubs: Each of the NFL clubs is constantly producing content for their team-specific platforms from practice updates to locker room interviews and players features. The NFL Now stream provides a next-generation platform to deliver this team content to fans.

– NFL Films Content: With more than 100 million feet of film in its library and more than 110 Emmy Awards, NFL Films programming, including America’s Game, The Top 100, and the two-time Emmy-nominated series “A Football Life,” will be part of NFL Now.

– NFL.com & NFL Network Content: NFL Now will utilize select NFL.com and NFL Network video content to augment each fan’s NFL Now content stream.

– Live Events, Press Conferences, and Shows: From league and team press conferences, to the Pro Football Hall of Fame induction weekend and the yearly release of the NFL schedule, NFL Now will share important moments from across the NFL calendar.

The channel is expected to be released this month, even as early as next week, to be in time for this year’s 2014-2015 NFL season. Apart from Apple TV, the corresponding apps will also be available on iOS and other streaming devices like Roku. However the channel may not be your best option to enjoy football because it won’t be broadcasting live matches! Yeah, DirecTV has told that the Sunday Ticket will not make into the NFL Now service, at least for this season!

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