Excited About Apple TV? Don’t Watch This Video.

Asa Mathat / AllThingsD.com

Lots of Apple watchers listened to Tim Cook’s NBC interview last night and concluded that the company has big plans for the fabled Apple TV.

After all, Cook said TV was an area of “intense interest.”

But that would be bigger news if Cook hadn’t said the same thing back in May, speaking to Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at our D10 conference.

See for yourself, courtesy of Rich Greenfield and Walt Piecyk, the smart guys at BTIG who mashed up the two interviews:

So what does last night’s interview really mean? Well, it means that Tim Cook is very good at staying on message. But we already knew that. What’s more relevant is what Tim Cook is actually doing.

We know Apple has tried out various permutations of an “Apple TV” product with the Television Industrial Complex in the past — sometimes it’s a programming offering, sometimes it’s a cable box alternative.

But so far, there haven’t been any signs that the company has made any real headway on the content/services side. Until we hear otherwise, hard to get too excited about a couple words.