Petter Kafka and Dawn Chmielewski, reporting for Re/code:

Industry executives familiar with Apple’s plans say the company wants to provide customers in cities around the U.S. with programming from their local broadcast stations. That would distinguish Apple’s planned offering from those already available from Sony and Dish’s Sling, which to date have only offered local programming in a handful of cities, or none at all.

This would be a big deal for my future in-laws who have toyed with the idea of canceling cable but can’t get past the idea of not watching the local news every night. And honestly, I would probably watch the local news on occasion if it was more readily available to me.

It seems as though the broadcast affiliates should be all over this since they stand to lose the most in the transition to online distribution. I don’t really see who loses in this proposal, aside from the cable companies — viewers get to watch the content they want, major networks and local affiliates get an additional revenue stream, and Apple can sell more devices. At this point it’s just a matter of getting the deals in place.