RSSApple Looking to Cut TV Show Prices
By Ed Oswald | Published September 7, 2007, 12:32 PM
Apple has begun an effort to convince networks and studios providing it video content to allow it to cut prices in half, meaning most television shows sold through iTunes would retail for 99 cents.
According to news reports, the idea has gotten a cool reception from Hollywood, which in many cases is looking to make more money from video downloads. However, Apple believes that a price cut could lead to a boon in sales, and would soften the blow of any revenue loss.
It could be due to this new effort that NBC Universal walked away from the table. That company was one of those looking to make more money from digital video by bundling programs together, although Apple claims it was also trying to raise the price of individual shows.
There are reasons for the network's unease. For example, DVD sales of television shows have become an important part of overall revenue. Variety offered one example where NBC's Heroes DVD currently retails for $40 in stores.
Including 23 episodes, on iTunes it would currently cost $45.77 to purchase all of them. After the change, that cost would be $22.77, much cheaper than the DVD. Customers could opt for the cheaper download method, cannibalizing sales of the show on DVD.
This is the same argument that has prevented Apple from attracting new studios to its movie store - offering a cheaper version of a new release the same day as it is available on disc is too much of a risk for some. However, at the same time, not everybody is completely against the idea.
Some studios have suggested a tiered pricing system, where older catalog episodes could be reduced to 99 cents for quick sale. However, Apple has always been against any type of tiered pricing, so such an arrangement could be hard to negotiate.
Apple declined to comment on the reports, although industry insiders claim that it may be closest to a deal with ABC, the first to offer its TV shows on iTunes. Jobs is on the board of Disney, which owns the network.
So you want them to sell at the margin? What's the good in that for them? They're not running a charity. This is a capitalist society and businesses are around to make money. I don't understand why people keep fooling themselves about this.
The only thing that we, as consumers can hope for is that the companies we decide to give our business to, aren't completely greedy. Unfortunately the majority are - so then, after that fact, all we can then hope for is for companies to lower the bar and raise the competition on products.
I have no doubt that Intel Pentium 500 would be the rage, and would be selling at 400 dollars if AMD and other processor manuf's weren't out there. Apple movies and possibly even music would easily be 2 to 4 dollars a pop if there weren't competitors gnawing away at their profits.
If a company is selling something at a reasonable rate, the best thing to do them is to support them - and 99c is reasonable in my eyes....so I would def. support Apple. At least until something better/or cheaper came along.
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The price should be even lower--somewhere around fifty cents per show--especially when compared to cable TV rates for the same programming. Even at $1 per show, consumers are still paying through an orifice compared to even the most expensive cable or satellite package.
(Have some already forgotten the lesson Apple taught just days ago with the iPhool? If Apple is offering to sell at the lower price, it still has a very nice margin built in. Even worse, Apple is laughing at anyone who actually paid $2 per show.)
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I don't understand. Hollywood thinks they'll make less money via downloads? Even with a price cut like Jobs is pushing for, wouldn't it be more than offset by not having to pay for materials (DVD disk manufacturing, packaging / printing, etc.)? It seems like a pure profit source to me. So what if it cuts into their DVD sales? Print less DVDs, sell more via download.
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This is great news to me. I am having trouble seeing the current cost as a reason to buy episodes, I buy music left and right and will buy 4-5 songs in a hurry before one tv show. However if they go to $.99 i will finally fill the other third of my 80gb ipod.
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If this happens I buy a video Ipod RIGHT now. 99c is more than reasonable for a digital download, drm or not.
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Yeah, they upped the pixel count to 640x480 some time back, so you are getting near DVD quality.
As for the 99 cent thing, I would like to see it happen, because that would be more inline with what you pay for a season on DVD when it is on sale.
Got Simpsons Season 5, for example, for $24.95 for the DVD set.
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Comparing downloads of 320x240(??) drm-protected stereo encoded compressed TV shows and movies on iTunes that you can't make your own DVDs of versus full 720x480 progressive-scan Dolby Digital/DTS DVDs which have no DRM that prevents you from playing the disc on any DVD player you want is kind of an apples-to-oranges (pardon the pun) comparison, isn't it?
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The shows are 640x480 for 4:3 shows and usually around 720x480 for 16:9 shows. Sure, they may have DRM but at $.99 cents it would be well worth it, especially for cable shows like ones from HBO. Cable shows like the ones on HBO are usually only 12 or 13 episodes a season yet they charge the same price for the DVDs as the networks do with their 22 to 24 episode seasons. I'd be glad to pay $13 dollars for a season of Entourage as opposed to the $35+ they want to charge me for the DVD. DVD extras are nice but not $22 dollars nice. If I want to see the extras that bad I can't just rent the DVDs from Netflix some time.
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I don't download tv shows off iTunes but this would be NICE.
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