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[Thor Von Thorson]

Woke up this morning with a feeling that Viva is going to end up owned by Apple in the near future.

It makes perfect sense at this point in time with their new billion dollar commitment to developing original content. I don't see them putting that kind of money into this venture and still having it streamed through their $9.99 a month Apple Music plan, which is their current method to stream video.

They are going to need a platform that is ready for them to properly launch this new enterprise from. Not only that, Apple has been trying for years to negotiate streaming rights with the networks, but hasn't been able to get it done:

There have been rumors for years that Apple planned to work with the networks to distribute content via its own streaming service.

Back in 2015 Apple was said to be negotiating deals with networks. At the time, ESPN's boss John Skipper confirmed that he was working on a deal with Apple for its rumoured streaming service, but revealed that Apple was having more trouble convincing other networks to join in.

However, it appears Apple hit a bit of a brick wall with the negotiations because by August 2015 talks with CBS, Fox, and NBC were said to have stalled. And then, in December 2015 it was claimed that Apple was putting its plans for the streaming service on hold because the cable companies and networks were proving too resistant to the idea.

By February 2016 CBS CEO Les Moonves had confirmed that talks with Apple had stopped following months of conversations with content providers: "We had conversations awhile back, and we haven't had recent conversations with them," Moonves said.

Why did Apple fail to come to an agreement in these negotiations? One report claimed that Apple was looking to collect a 30% fee from all subscriptions and the network operators weren't happy about this.

Having failed to negotiate content deals will Apple instead seek to acquire companies that have content available for distribution?
http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/apple/apple-streaming-video-service-3610603/

Somehow JF got it done. So why would they want to go back to the bargaining table with the networks when the dirty work has already been done for them by Viva?? They won't.

Also from that Macworld article: "The New York Post source told the paper that Apple "Is looking for a transformative acquisition and not just a deal to buy TV shows".

What VivaLive offers is EXACTLY what Apple wants. The cosmos are aligning in the next few days aren't they?? ;)