Intel Explores Sale of TV Venture to Verizon

Intel is in talks to sell all or part of its yet-to-be-launched TV venture to Verizon, reflecting the difficulty the company has had in building an online version of pay television, according to a person familiar with the situation.

For the past couple of years Intel has been planning a service that would stream TV channels over the Internet, and has made a significant investment in the operation, which now involves more than 350 people. The company has developed an advanced set-top box that was widely praised by media executives as significantly easier to use than boxes offered by traditional cable operators. But securing access to TV channels proved a huge challenge. The company has had extensive talks with big media companies -- including Walt Disney, Viacom, Time Warner, and Comcast's NBCUniversal, according to people familiar with the matter -- but there have been various sticking points and so far no deals have been announced.