It is almost certain now that the Apple TV 4 will be launched on June 8th at the WWDC 2015. Among many other details leaked, it was rumoured that the next Apple TV could ship with Apple’s own video streaming service. But “several people with knowledge of the situation” have told Re/Code otherwise:

The Cupertino technology company has told network executives the planned unveiling will be postponed because Apple has yet to finalize the licensing deals. 

Technology and money issues remain sticking points.

We reported a few days back that Apple is looking to include local US channels to the TV service, which would enable complete cord cutting and lure in cable subscribers. According to today’s report, Apple hasn’t been able to reach a financial agreement with the channels and they also currently lack the technology that could broadcast these local stations to the streaming service.

These reasons are forcing Apple to launch the Apple TV 4 without the TV streaming service. The sources now expect the service to be launched later this year, or early 2016.

The rumoured TV service, charging $30-$40/month, is expected to bring over 25 channels to the Apple TV, including CBS, ESPN and FX .

According to The New York Times, the next Apple TV is scheduled to be launched on Monday, with a slimmer profile, new operating system and interface, support for Siri and its own App Store.

If you are as curious as we are, you can catch the live stream of the WWDC 2015 keaynote right on your Apple TV via the updated Events channel, at 10 am PT on Monday.

We will surely keep you updated as well.

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It seems they’ve started delivering on it as iFun notes that the channel now shows up in United Kingdom, France, Germany, Sweden, Hungary and other European countries.

Users also confirm the channel is now available in Brazil and Mexico.

ABC News sports both live breaking news coverage as well as on-demand videos to be streamed at will. At any moment, there are four different streams available, so that users can follow the genre of news they really care about.

It also opens access to a plethora of videos in ABC’s gigantic archives including “This Week in History” and “The Day in Pictures”. And quite surprisingly, this ABC News channel brings local broadcasts from many US cities also.

This includes content from WABC (New York), KABC (Los Angeles), WLS (Chicago), WPVI (Philadelphia), KGO (San Francisco), KTRK (Houston), WTVD (Raleigh), KFSN (Fresno) and WISN (Milwaukee).

The best part is that unlike the WatchABC channel on Apple TV, ABC News can be streamed completely free of charge. Yeah, no need of any paid subscription or any supported cable provider account.

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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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Proving our previous reports true, Apple TV gained the FX NOW channel today. It is Apple’s first channel addition after the UI overhaul, Family Sharing and Beats Music addition on Thursday.

Announced earlier in 2014, FX Now is FX Network’s video-on-demand service which pulls all the contents from its FX, FXX and FXM Networks. Their iOS app has been available for a while .

Last time, we focused a lot on how the channel would bring The Simpsons to millions of its fans. But as it turns out, FXNow for Apple TV only supports a few episodes and clips, for now. This is expected to change as FX launches the Simpsons World Service later this fall.

Leaving that aside, you will be able to enjoy these popular shows on your Apple TV starting today (Mashable):

TV shows such as American Horror Story, Justified and Archer, as well as shows syndicated on various FX Networks, including How I Met Your Mother and Parks and Recreation. The app also includes access to films such as Moneyball, Avatar, The Other Guys and Step Brothers.

The FX NOW channel needs you to login with a valid cable operator account to view its shows and movies. The supported providers include AT&T U-verse, Optimum TV, Bright House, Cox, Time Warner, Comcast, Suddenlink and WOW!

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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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Well your Apple TV home-screen just got a bit more congested today, as two more channels made it to the show. Though a bit late, FOX Now and CNBC are now showing on Apple TV.

CNBC brings all of their business related news and the original Prime series shows to the channel. However you’ll need to sign in with your supported cable subscription account to take full advantage of this. Though a library of videos are available even for non-subscribers, VOD and live streaming are restricted to subscribers of Comcast, AT&T, DirecTV, DISH, Verizon, and more.

FOX Now channel on the other side provides their popular shows like Glee, American Idol, The Following, Family Guy, Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, 24: Live Another Day, New Girl, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Mindy Project and many others for on-demand streaming. If you’re a subscriber, you can stream episodes right on the day after they’re aired while others will have to wait a whole week to do so.

The FOX Now channel shouldn’t be confused with their FXNow service, about which we discussed a couple of days back. Also TV2 Sumo, the official Apple TV channel for TV2 networks is now available exculsively to Norway users.

If you find your home-screen to be too cluttered and have unused channels, you can follow our guide on How to easily hide unwanted channel icons on Apple TV.

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The Vimeo channel on Apple TV received a huge overhaul today, just hours after Vimeo rolled out a major update to its own video-editing app on iOS, Cameo. The make over mostly involves a redesigned user interface, better video discovery features and a push on their video-on-demand contents.

The channel now has a Featured, My Vimeo, My Feeds, Search and Settings tabs, which are pretty much self explanatory. The Featured section however, sports an array of curated contents including the Staff Favorites, Custom Playlists and Albums, Trending and Popular channels and a separate scroller for Videos-on-demand.

The redesigned video details page now shows the metadata including “background images, additional clip metadata such as audience ratings, reviews, extra features, and more content from creators.”

Besides the UI changes, Vimeo also aims to “provide viewers with a seamless living room experience” by reducing the number of remote clicks needed for navigation.

The update also makes it possible to easily add videos to the Watch Later queue, to filter results properly, to better access the Video-on-Demand Trailers and to easily discover related contents using the dedicated “More” button.

Vimeo also let in on a couple of hidden features of the channel:

“Enjoy continuous playback anywhere — simply press the play button on your remote while any video thumbnail is selected. Also: Quickly like or add a video to your Watch Later queue by holding down the center (select) button on your remote.”

This is by far the biggest update received by the channel and users on various forums are welcoming it, especially the new search and the ‘lesser number of clicks’.

The update is available automatically to Apple TV users around the globe, starting today.

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