Report: TV execs dislike idea of price cuts at iTunes
Apple is trying to convince Hollywood to reduce prices of downloads of TV shows from $1.99 to 99 cents, according to a story in Variety.
The trade publication reported Friday that TV networks have shown little enthusiasm to price cutting, although Apple is telling them that lowering the cost will boost sales, according to the story.
Last week, NBC Universal announced that it would not renew a long-term contract with Apple to sell TV shows via iTunes. Many in the entertainment sector have wanted more control in pricing their products at iTunes, but Apple CEO Steve Jobs has held fast to his model: most songs cost 99 cents and TV shows $1.99.
Apple accused NBC Universal of pulling out of its deal only after the network asked for a price increase that would have forced Apple to charge customers $4.99 for a TV show. NBC has denied this and said that it only wants more flexibility in iTunes' pricing.
When it comes to mobile video, Apple is the leader. The company has sold 950,000 and iTunes offers more than 500 different shows. But the company is increasingly finding itself competing against its suppliers.
Not only has NBC Universal partnered with News Corp to launch it's own video site, Hulu.com, but TV networks are starting to rely on their own Web sites to distribute content online. And many offer shows for free.
To watch Viacom's The Colbert Report on the Internet, all one need do is go to comedycentral.com . Clips of the shows are available free of charge as long as one is willing to sit through a commercial.
Greg Sandoval covers media and digital entertainment for CNET News. He is a former reporter for The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times. E-mail Greg.
and try it (you have nothing to lose).
I can tell you that while i would never pay $1.99 to see a missed
episode, i would probably pay $.99 to see an episode of one of my
favorite shows without thinking much about it.
CZR
The rest is extra. I guess that's not good enough.
Charles R. Whealton
Charles Whealton @ pleasedontspam.com
Not that I think they should be able to charge $5 an EPISODE (that's simply ridiculous, and on the whole is much higher cost than simply buying the DVDs, or perhaps that's the point), but they should probably be able to make some money on their IP. On the other hand, Apple shouldn't be able to tell them how much money they should make on their content, as that's really up to them whether or not their choice is fair to the consumer. And besides, if NBC wants to charge exorbitant amounts of money for its content, people will be that much more likely to pirate it anyway. (I know that I will definately buy things that are reasonably priced, and I've bought hundreds of dollars of 320 kbps DRM-free music at Beatport at about $1.49 a pop, but things that are ridiculously priced or unavailible legally I tend to pirate).
So I say, let them run Hulu. I'm all for it. If they don't give consumers a good deal, they won't buy it, plain and simple. But if they DO (okay, not saying that's likely), they may just prefer this new deal over buying through iTunes. I know that personally, I hope to never buy anything else from iTunes in my life, so it could be a good thing :)