Apple TV Revs Up to Compete, For Real, In Streaming

Almost exactly six years after it launched, Apple TV is at an inflection point. In the span of a week, the streaming service rebranded itself, struck its first standalone bundle deal with a competitor, and inked arguably its most significant sports rights deal yet.

Taken together, it suggests that the tech giant is gearing up to drive (pun intended) new subscribers and viewers to the service, which is loved among Hollywood types for its premium original content, and feared for its perceived lack of scale.

Apple’s foray into streaming entertainment has been a slow build, with Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht essentially building a streaming service from scratch. But six years later Apple TV is still struggling to find an audience, relegated to the “other streaming” category in Nielsen’s monthly Gauge report — below the likes of Hallmark, AMC Network and Scripps in TV usage market share. Nor…