That's why these hires make sense. If they come out with something as good as The Crown or Handmaid's Tale, I can't imagine people won't take them seriously.
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Apple Hires Executives From Sony Pictures TV to Lead Push Into Original Programming
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That's why these hires make sense. If they come out with something as good as The Crown or Handmaid's Tale, I can't imagine people won't take them seriously.
So Apple's limited tech resources have led to the 3 year abandonment of the MacPro, long delays in other Mac Updates, forced OS software teams to combine resources, and countless other trade offs in the company's core business, but yet they are spending money to make TV shows?
Come on, Apple - Remember when Steve came back to the company and forced out all of the side projects so that the company could focus on what's important?
Seems like that time needs to come again.
Come on, Apple - Remember when Steve came back to the company and forced out all of the side projects so that the company could focus on what's important?
Seems like that time needs to come again.
The more time passes, the more I suspect there's a reason they haven't, such as a major content deal with Netflix that would be lost if an acquisition occurs. If anything, I think Disney would make the most sense. You get content, a huge network (ABC), AAA brands incl. Star Wars and Marvel, Pixar.... they would be able to parlay that into a major competitor overnight. As for anyone saying "oh well in that case I'll just not watch any of that stuff again," don't bother lying.
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Steve's dead. He's been dead for a long time. And Apple doesn't just make computers anymore, and hasn't for a long time.
Microsoft doesn't just make software anymore. Amazon just bought Whole Foods and last I checked they aren't just selling books anymore. I don't see Netflix relying on mailing DVDs to people. If Apple doesn't diversify, they will only ever make a tiny fraction of the computers sold, be too dependent on one product line (without MRR, by the way), and will eventually end up like Palm or Packard Bell. Is that what you want?
As for the projects Steve ended, they were bad variations of the core model. They certainly weren't anything like we're working with today.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
I suspect that's the case too. However, if Apple could buy Netflix without any effect on content deals, Apple would need to raise prices to hit their target margins. When Netflix raised prices by $1, people were practically grabbing pitchforks and lighting torches to storm the castle. Imagine Apple Netflix with pricing bumped to 1.5X or 2X... or more.
Or maybe that's why Apple has NOT purchased a Netflix or similar?
I agree... though suspect that Apple values video content about like we consumers seem to believe it should be valued. Back in the days when the rumor of an Apple subscription service was hot & heavy, lots of rumors of failing (to strike a) deal were flying that laid blame at deal collapse on "Apple wanting everything" implying "leaving us with nothing." Whether true or false, I saw enough of that to perceive that Apple has a hard time striking win:win deals for media. Apparently, Apple is loading the win for Apple but not a great partner. Perhaps that why rumors of an Apple streaming video deal predates pretty much all of the ones that are already fleshed out, launched and being consumed on Apple's own hardware now?
Nevertheless, Disney does seem like a great fit.
I think Apple could benefit by bypassing the middleman (broadband cable) by buying DISH. A problem for all streamers trying to basically eat up cable's TV subscription business is that they all have 100% dependency on the broadband pipe generally owned by cable. As public companies, cable is obligated to maximize for their shareholders. So if TV business revenues are going to be taken, they seem very likely to make up for them with higher broadband rates. Consumers looking for net cheaper outlays for cable will probably end up paying more for less than what they got with a cable/satt subscription, PLUS a more expensive broadband bill. And an Apple can't do anything about it because the pipe is completely controlled by Cable.
However, buy DISH, repurpose it as a broadband bypass and Apple could cut that particular middleman out of the equation between consumer and iCloud. Of course, that's only a North America opportunity so there would be challenges capitalizing on the same on a global basis... but the primary hurdle I see in all versions of a "new model" is that Cable is the entrenched toll masters of the broadband pipe for pretty much all of us. Until there is a good option to bypass them, I don't see how a good crack at "the dream" can be realized.
Better Call Saul. Got me. Look at a showbiz rag. They're really not bad, as content goes.
Look, the cable monopoly has to get bent. The FCC thought that they should enable various cable boxes, and not let Comcast give you Internet for one price and then require you to follow their stupid version of 400 channels. We want all the boxes to be legal. Apple, Amazon, AT&T (DirectTVNow), Google, Roku, etc., should have a fair shot at the bandwidth the ISP gives you. It's just bringing the free marketplace back to television after the Reality TV Monsters took over. I personally don't want to pay a dime towards the availability of TV preachers and/or Kardashians to the public. I want to watch 4K on broadcast (possible, with ATSC 3.0). I want to be able to buy a show or series from a guy with a website, if it's good. Remove the cable middleman!
Look, the cable monopoly has to get bent. The FCC thought that they should enable various cable boxes, and not let Comcast give you Internet for one price and then require you to follow their stupid version of 400 channels. We want all the boxes to be legal. Apple, Amazon, AT&T (DirectTVNow), Google, Roku, etc., should have a fair shot at the bandwidth the ISP gives you. It's just bringing the free marketplace back to television after the Reality TV Monsters took over. I personally don't want to pay a dime towards the availability of TV preachers and/or Kardashians to the public. I want to watch 4K on broadcast (possible, with ATSC 3.0). I want to be able to buy a show or series from a guy with a website, if it's good. Remove the cable middleman!
Not even close. The big 3 networks were operating at a time of extremely limited "bandwidth". It required massive amounts of capital investment to set up a broadcast station that might reliably reach 30 miles. They broadcast the exact same show across the nation and there was no way to choose something else without switching channels. Because you couldn't have more than thee main shows going simultaneously the networks were acting as gatekeepers in the extreme. You watched what was on or you watched nothing at all.
What the internet has done is make it feasible to pick what content to watch from among tens of thousands of shows/episodes at any given time. At 8:00 tonight if I want to watch something on Netflix I'm not limited to the one thing they are broadcasting, I can pick from a massive variety of entertainment.
I would like to see video going down a similar path as audio. Distribution can handled by a relatively few providers even as the number of content creators increase. The distributors would not be acting as gatekeepers like the big three networks used to do. Content creators getting into exclusive distribution directly (or vice versa) is quite inefficient from an individual consumer point of view even though it will likely provide a short-term boost to the entertainment industry.
Your statement was:
How is having one or two content distributors any different from the stranglehold you described above?
The delivery method may be different, broadcast vs internet, however what you propose would put the content in the hands of couple of distributors.
Now you're changing you tune? First it was one or two distributors, now you say a few?
How many is a few?
Netflix?
Amazon?
Hulu?
Youtube Red?
Apple?
Is that a few?
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I don't know why Apple has not been able to make Apple TV a centerpiece for streaming movies and music, but they haven't. Content providers have avoided Apple but signed with Amazon, Hulu and others, for whatever reason. I don't really care who Apple hires, or in what capacity. They know what their competitors offer in both content and hardware, and they've known this for years.
Don't tell me who you hired, show me hardware that is first in class and a wide variety of shows that people want to watch. There have been lots of announcements over the years but the end result has been very few contracts for new or popular shows that weren't already available on other services and strange and sometimes confusing hardware choices, such as the ATV4 remote, and no 4k capability years after competitors offered it.
It's time for Show not Tell.
Don't tell me who you hired, show me hardware that is first in class and a wide variety of shows that people want to watch. There have been lots of announcements over the years but the end result has been very few contracts for new or popular shows that weren't already available on other services and strange and sometimes confusing hardware choices, such as the ATV4 remote, and no 4k capability years after competitors offered it.
It's time for Show not Tell.
After the email hack and dump, would anyone at Sony have any meaningful grasp on reality? Just curious...
Did you forget to end your post with /s?New Apple TV with 4K support later this year with the addition of aTV streaming service, similar to that of
Did you miss the frequent articles about apples failed negotiations with major studios over prices? They'll never get "unlimited access" to anything just like every other streaming company doesn't either.
It’s inevitable. Apple Music has been lucrative for record labels. Maybe they feel Apple can do the same for the studios. Either way, speculation on my part.
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Perhaps if they hire good producers and writers they can get some great shows going. Either do this, or don't do it. Trying to launch a service with a couple shows is just a waste of time. Or could have been a simple experiment?
Get Larry Page, Seinfeld, Arsenio Hall, etc. start something entertaining here.
Yes, I think that is the idea BUT it was also the idea when they bought Beats to get Iovine and Dre. Best I can tell so far those guys haven't really accomplished anything game changing for Apple in that segment.
Again, original content isn't Apple's core competency and it takes a lot of shows (big cash outlay) to be viable. That is money that won't be going into tech R&D or buying out tech companies. Apple's only experience in the field of original content is ads and the ones written and produced by Apple staff are quite cheesy compared to the "classic" ones tightened up by actual advertising firms. But maybe this hire is a realization that Carpool Karaoke and Planet of the Apps are amateur drivel and Apple must do better if they are going to go head to head with Netflix, Amazon, HBO, Showtime original programming and the like.
You're comparing a company that was on the rocks financially with hundreds of products and no hit products to Apple today? Madness.
The Mac Pro was not neglected. Didn't you hear the news about the Mac Pro? Apple were figuring out how to update it and realised they couldn't with the current design.
So they hired guys from the biggest joke company in the industry? Bahahahaha good job, Apple.
As you clearly illustrate, the majority of TV channels are simply junk. My original post still stands.
When I heard Apple were talking to Sony, I wrote Tim Cook and pleaded with him not to go to Hollywood for people to produce content. Think different I said. Apple could remake American TV, I said, by staying away from Hollywood formulas.
Oh well.
Oh well.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
I'll dream right with you at $50 for a good streaming service AND full access to iTunes VOD.