Apple Could Offer HBO, Showtime, and Starz Channels as 'Premium TV Bundle'

[tennisproha]

Yes, but that's like comparing the first automobile franchise near the turn of the 20th with a marquee brand dealership today. Jobs negotionations with the music companies was done at a time when the industry was bleeding from illegal downloads. The music industrial literally had nothing to lose and it was also limited to Mac users which was a tiny user base compared to the PC user base.

Now what happened was that iTunes revived the music industry and with that iTunes was able to start calling shots -- like keeping prices at .99/song when the industry wanted to go higher. Eventualy Apple traded removing DRM with increasing song prices to $1.29

With video Apple isn't reall innovating its just searching for a me-too bundle. It doesn't have the leverage that it did when Jobs negotiated the iTunes store. Content is king now because distributors are a dime a dozen, a nickle on Tuesday. Apple hasn't made progress because Apple thinks it still has leverage and no one likes a bully. Other companies have had no problem negotiating streaming bundles either for live TV or movies and back catalog TV. It's just Apple that can't come to deal.

To add to this, a middle man like Apple is no longer required. HBO, Showtime, CBS, WWE, UFC, MLB, NHL, etc., all have their own streaming apps/services that carry their content directly to the end customer.

The landscape is totally different than 15yrs ago and the movie/tv industry has a totally different business model than the music industry.

Hmm, I do agree with you guys actually. Motion picture industry was definitely better at safeguarding their content and probably learned a bit from the music industries' pains.

It'll be interesting to see what they do. I don't know if they can indefinitely keep iTunes the way it is though.

 

[LethalWolfe]

I don't know if they can indefinitely keep iTunes the way it is though.

I agree that they can't just keep iTunes the way it is. In 2007 Apple had something unique with the iTMS and TV, an easy way to buy/rent movies/tv shows online and watch them on your living room TV. Starting 5-6 years ago that ability changed from unique to completely pedestrian as more streaming services started popping up everything from various set top boxes to video game consoles to smart TVs gave users the ability to stream Internet video.

Even if Apple comes up with a Skinny Bundle for cable/live TV and a subscription plan for all the back catalog stuff it has in iTunes w/o original content they are doomed because pretty much everything you can get from Apple you can already get from many other sources. Original content is what gets people to chose to watch one broadcast channel/cable channel/streaming service over another so, IMO, it's the only thing that will make Apple a competitor again in this arena.

 

[sir1963nz]

Well there's a huge difference between Netflix and iTunes. Netflix is a small collection that recycles. iTunes is everything ever made. It justifies the cost.
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What makes you think they can't? They are nowhere close to being "well oiled streaming monsters". They are startups a few years into their little experiment. Streaming is barely in its infancy.

That may be (mostly) true in the USA, the rest of the world is vastly different.
But does iTunes have the Netflix originals, or Amazon Originals, how about New Zealand, Australian content ?, nope.
The Netflix catalog is expanding here in New Zealand, and their original material is typically quite good.
Then there is the issue that I can only watch so much, having a bigger catalog does not change that, so charging me more for something I can not use is not going to work for me.
Its like going to an "Eat as much as you like" restaurant who increases its price but tells you you can now eat twice as much.

So, no. I will not be paying Apple more.
I have my benchmark,4 simultaneous users for $16/month.

 

[tennisproha]

That may be (mostly) true in the USA, the rest of the world is vastly different.
But does iTunes have the Netflix originals, or Amazon Originals, how about New Zealand, Australian content ?, nope.
The Netflix catalog is expanding here in New Zealand, and their original material is typically quite good.
Then there is the issue that I can only watch so much, having a bigger catalog does not change that, so charging me more for something I can not use is not going to work for me.
Its like going to an "Eat as much as you like" restaurant who increases its price but tells you you can now eat twice as much.

So, no. I will not be paying Apple more.
I have my benchmark,4 simultaneous users for $16/month.

I think your gorgeous surroundings more than makeup for the lack of TV content.