Following a report in July that Apple was planning on adding a new FX Now channel to Apple TV within 12 months, today the channel has officially arrived for users in the US. Like the FX Now app that was already available on iOS devices via an app for iPhone and iPad, the channel offers on-demand video streaming with content from the FX, FXX, and FXM networks.
Previous reports indicated that FXNOW also planned to make its new Simpsons World service, which offers on-demand content from The Simpsons TV show, through the Apple TV channel when it launches this fall. For now, the channel offers a selection of full episodes, clips and movies from FX.
The FXNOW channel is available for Apple TV users starting today and requires users to authenticate a cable subscription to access the content. Currently AT&T U-Verse, Bright House, Comcast Xfinity, Cox, Time Warner Cable, and several smaller cable companies are supported.
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I fail to see the point if I must have a cable sub and cannot just pay for what channels I want.. seriously.
Greedy networks bah..
It’s idiotic. The running joke is how long it takes to hide the latest batch of CableCo crap that shows up on the Apple TV.
So let me get this straight. I’m supposed to bypass my cable box that doesn’t hit my network bandwidth and stream the “same” content over my Apple TV?
Have to agree. AppleTV is great…is all I use in the living room frankly….but these Cable-required joke apps are not doing anything to enhance the user experience.
I have 1 cable box so I love these apps for other rooms in the house. Like you said, it would be great to pay ala cart though.
Is this only on 3rd generation devices running latest software? If so booooooooo!
Another totally worthless addition.
I’ve found that as gadgets go AppleTV is one of the best value for money items on the market. But really, one of the first things I discovered when I set it up was how useless apps that require cable subscription authorization are. If they’re coming through my cable box what’s the sense of re-routing them through AppleTV? (That’s not a rhetorical question: I’m curious to know to know what version of the King’s New Clothes story this fits.) So far the only significant and useful app of this type seems to be ESPN, which though also cable based is completely open and available on ATV. If only I were an avid sports fan….
I realize you folk are all about Apple news happenings but I’m not so sure this is news. It’s about as useful as reporting on the latest menu offerings at the cafes in Cupertino. Perhaps you should create a sidebar feature called For The Record to be used to simply document an event that is otherwise of little value.
While I used to think the same thing…
Cable companies charge you a monthly fee in most cases to rent an HD box. So if you want cable in a room that isn’t used very often, you either have to pay that monthly fee, or just buy an AppleTV for that room. Between ClearQAM, and the channels available for streaming on the AppleTV. There is plenty to watch without having to pay $10 a month for the box.
Benjamin that scenario is clearly a useful one
But as a part of your regular living room, I can definitely understand seeing zero use in these features.
Some of these apps allow for archived episodes and seasons. Have you seen the HBO Go app? It has every episode ever aired on their network not to mention the nice list of movies…
Oh, The Simpsons. At least I they are supposed to be coming to the app.
I use these channels. I find they offer shows that are not available on demand, with some channels not even having on demand at all.
Now I don’t like having to buy all those cable channels from cable just to get the few channels I watch, but I like these channels on the Apple TV since they give me more access to more shows than just cable, and I don’t pay any more.
I watched most of the Little League World Series on the Apple TV, on the ESPN app.
This is not the best situation, but that is the value situation, not Apple’s fault, and partiularly for someone like me that watches almost no live TV, it’s a pretty good deal.
Doesn’t do you a a bit of good if you don’t have or can’t get cable. In my case, none of those services are available.
and as usual it’s USA only, come on Apple make more channels available in Europe.
Like many people, I’ve dumped cable for the useless pile of crappy ‘channels’ it offered. The best thing I did after dumping my landline phone some years back.
I’ve slashed my TV bill to a third of what it was. And now Apple is ‘offering all these apps that demand a cable subscription. I call it BS. I’ll consider buying content, but it can hardly be considered ‘on-demand’, if you can’t buy the stuff in the first place.
I don’t have cable TV but I have internet through the cable company. With my login to there site, I get most of the access to those required apps minus the ABC ones as my provider is not one of the top 5.
I fully understand where most of you are coming from. Cable is ridiculously overpriced especially since the internet is day in and day out knocking cable further down and down.. but with that being said. I still LOVE that apple tv is adding these channels because my parents and brother who don’t have apple tv and we have at&t u-verse means i can know watch on demand without having to leave my Apple TV! :)
What a joke, these cable companies just don’t give in and never will until their house burns down. It will take an act of congress to change the way they think, so good luck to us all since they’re all in bed with the FCC!
You don’t need to have a cable or Dish to watch what’s on Apple TV, HBO Now, Hulu, etc. We cut the cord, got an antenna for regular TV, bought an Apple TV, and got apps for the content we want to see. free. The Apple TV and antenna are one time costs. trial subscriptions. Saving around 1K a year over AT&T Uverse.