Intel's Ambitious Plan To Blow Up The TV Industry Is Falling Apart

Earlier this year, news broke that Intel - the company known for making chips for computers - was cooking up an ambitious project to blow up the pay-TV business as we know it.

Intel hired 300 people and reportedly invested $100 million in Intel Media, which was going to be an Internet-based alternative to cable, fiber, and satellite television.

Intel built its own cable box. It built its own software. It was planning on including a DVR that recorded everything over a 3-day period so a consumer never missed a minute of TV. People who got an early look at the box, and its software, were blown away.

It was supposed to be out to the public by the end of this year.

Well, it sounds like it's not going to be out this year. It sounds like it might not ever be out.

Peter Kafka at All Things D says Intel is, "now looking for a strategic backer to help them fund and distribute the service. If they don't find one soon, it's possible the project will be scrapped."

Intel is talking to Amazon and Samsung about some sort of partnership says Kafka, but it's unclear how interested either company is in working with Intel.

Kafka also says Intel has failed to finalize a deal with any major TV programmers.

Making matters even worse, Intel got a new CEO in May, Brian Krzanich. Krzanich doesn't seem to be all that enthusiastic about the TV venture. He seems to be more interested in focusing on Intel's core chip business, which has whiffed on mobile devices losing ground to ARM, the British company whose chip architecture powers iPhones, iPads, and just about every other mobile device.