AppleTV adds HBO, ESPN, but is it too little too late?

HBO and ESPN are the latest big-name companies to join the growing Apple TV family, although the set-top box still lags behind some when it comes to content.

Apple made the announcement on Wednesday, saying it has added popular apps HBO Go and Watch ESPN to the lineup.

“HBO GO and Watch ESPN are some of the most popular iOS apps and are sure to be huge hits on Apple TV,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. 

To watch sports or movies, however, you’ll need to subscribe to both through your cable or satellite provider.

Apple TV users now have access to more than 60,000 movies and over 230,000 TV episodes, as well as music on iTunes, the company said.

It also said Apple TV users download more than 800,000 TV episodes and 350,000 movies every day.

Today’s announcement is in hopes Apple can spark results for TV on par with the iPhone, iPod and iPad, USA Today said.

Apple sold 5 million units in the last fiscal year, what CEO Tim Cook called “a beloved hobby” for the Cupertino, Calif., tech giant.

Tech Crunch also noted that both ESPN and HBO apps were available on iOS devices like the iPad.

Users could then stream content to their TVs through the AirPlay system.

The latest announcement simply allows Apple TV owners to skip that step.

In addition to HBO and ESPN, Apple also added Sky News, Crunchyroll and Qello for live news, sports and TV on Wednesday.

The new additions join Hulu, Netflix, pro baseball, basketball and hockey as well as Vimeo, YouTube and Flickr.

Yet, Apple continues to lag behind competitors like Roku, Theverge.com said.

Roku offers hundreds of options compared to a few dozen for Apple TV, the tech blog reported.

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