We’ve heard this story before – Apple has released another device that will, according to the media, forever change the broadcasting business. Since the company behind the device is Apple, the coverage is a little bigger and helps generates a more dangerous threat to competitors.

In late August, Apple TV was unveiled to consumers as the ultimate video device. “Everything you want to watch — movies, TV shows, photos, and more — streams wirelessly to Apple TV. That way you don’t have to worry about managing storage or syncing to your iTunes library. HD movie and TV show rentals play over the Internet to your widescreen TV, while music and photos stream from your computer. Either way, all you have to do is click and play.”

The second-generation Apple TV device fits Apple’s product template in that it’s small, sleek and features the prominent logo, and it’s designed to be simple to use. Content is rented, with first-run HD movies priced at $4.99 the day the DVD is released, and TV shows priced at $.99 per show. ABC and Fox have already agreed to make their content available to Apple. The device also will be able to stream content from the extensive Netflix and YouTube libraries, as well as music, photos and videos from computers to HDTVs.

The device was well received by the media. One headline even declared that, “Apple TV Blasts Big Volley at Cable, Satellite, Telecom Providers,” with the author calling Apple TV “the most high-profile effort yet to topple the traditional cable, satellite and telecom TV service providers.”

But this area of device-enabled TV has been well covered by non-Apple devices with similar promise to forever alter how TV programs and movies are watched. Despite these years of effort, there has not yet been a widespread move by consumers to pay for television content if they have an Internet connection. Apple would like to make the same impact on the broadcasting business that it has made on the music industry, but the difference is that the music industry has aggressively fought and, to some degree, controlled content theft, striking profitable deals with Apple early on in the growing take up of iTunes. The TV industry to date has allowed and even supported free-streaming content, so consumers that already have embraced watching content on a computer screen would seem to have little reason to begin basically renting the same content.

And despite the emergence of YouTube and similar Web sites and people watching content online, satellite pay-TV remains a buoyant industry. In many cases around the globe, satellite pay-TV operator’s are seeing impressive subscriber growth and building strong sustainable businesses. These businesses also grew in a recession, while cable competitors experienced their worst churn rates in history — further evidence of its importance to households. If pay-TV businesses are run well and continue to innovate, there should be little to fear despite the media hyperbole that surround Apple releases.

But if consumers rush out and buy Apple TV in the same numbers that they purchased iPhone and iPads, it may signal a shift in the broadcasting model and verify Apple’s dedicated core audience. It also would mean that everyone may have to admit that Apple and Steve Jobs are two steps ahead of everyone else.