Can Apple make 99-cent TV shows work?
Apple would like to lower the iTunes price for single television show episodes to just 99 cents, an idea that some television executives are greeting with skepticism and not a little animosity.
Steve Jobs wants to see most episodes of television shows available on iTunes for the reduced price of 99 cents, feeling that it could be a significant revenue stream for all concerned. The producers and owners of television content feel that perhaps that price is too low and each show should sell for a higher price. A central issue is whether or not cutting the price for an episode, say, in half would generate more than twice the number of sales, thus resulting in more total revenue at the lower price.
Of course, that is not the only issue involved. The networks are also concerned that they will anger the television affiliates and cable distributors by agreeing to the lower price, according to a New York Times story. The affiliates and cable outlets, after all, are still the primary method of distribution for television series and specials. This makes it tricky for the producers of content and the networks when it comes time to negotiate with their major distributors. One can almost hear a cable operator asking why they should pay a high price for content from network X when network X is willing to sell each show for 99 cents on iTunes.
Apple already carries a large amount of network content in its iTunes store, but most of those shows sell for $1.99, twice the price that is being proposed by Apple for the future. Apple, of course would like to make the content price look better so that its new iPad tablet computer will look more attractive to potential buyers. Apple has also floated the idea of selling a monthly subscription for around $30, which would allow a user to watch an unlimited number of episodes during that month. That idea has proven even more difficult to pass by the networks. Still, a look at the history of iTunes and the music business gives one the impression that if anyone can make 99 cent TV shows a reality, it is Steve Jobs.
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February 22nd, 2010
Hopefully this will be a really positive move forward, at least in regards to getting the issue of much cheaper legal streaming content to the masses. It goes without saying that if popular support was behind REASONABLY priced content everyone would be happy with the situation. Shame some people are just greedy.
Story Overview Here:http://moviebake.com/uncategorized/can-apple-make-99-cent-tv-shows-work/
February 23rd, 2010
A full season of a show, say 22 episodes, can be bought for $18-30 on DVD (cheaper if you wait) and can be watched pretty much anywhere on any device (with a little recoding effort for devices w/o optical drives).
From iTunes you’re paying roughly the same but are limited to your computer & Apple-branded mobile devices. Granted, you can skip the episodes you don’t care for (if you know that ahead of time; not possible for shows from HBO/Showtime if you aren’t already a subscriber) but I just don’t see how buying video from iTunes benefits the consumer. Is the audio/video quality substantially better than DVD? I’d have to guess not.