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Apple Seeking Price Cuts on iTunes Television Episodes?

OH NO!!
I bought an episode last week for $1.99. Now it's dropped to $0.99. That's an unheard of 50% drop in price!

I'm going to start a petition that Apple refunds us early adopters of this new episode.

[/sarcasm]


Disclaimer: I bought the iPhone on launch day and don't think Apple owes us anything for dropping the price.
 
mikea said:
This is absolutely a great idea. Being from Canada..we don't get itunes tv anyway,which sucks the big one. I download torrents, but the thing is, I would pay for it if it was avaliable....it has something to do with stupid liscencing laws up here. But, the 99 cents is brilliant...they would sell alot more and it would be an incentive to buy instead of getting torrents for free. It sure has worked for music with me..these tv and music executives need to understand that everything has changed...wake up.
that's all
Click to expand...

This is the balance that Apple is seeking. Make it pointless to torrent when its so cheap anyways. I just don't understand media executives sometimes. Have they not learned that they cannot fight technology?

Tazzy531 said:
OH NO!!
I bought an episode last week for $1.99. Now it's dropped to $0.99. That's an unheard of 50% drop in price!

I'm going to start a petition that Apple refunds us early adopters of this new episode.

[/sarcasm]


Disclaimer: I bought the iPhone on launch day and don't think Apple owes us anything for dropping the price.
Click to expand...
LOL! Very good.
 
tribulation said:
Just out of curiosity, what and why do some of you buy a TV show season on DVD? Is it just people without access to normal cable? If you have cable and a tivo I personally just can't image any reason why anyone would want to spend that kind of money for a TV show series to keep forever.

So is it mostly just people without cable subscriptions?
Click to expand...

First of all, I love watching shows without commercials. Commercials get annoying.

Secondly, for long running dramas that rely on previous episodes, such as Heroes and Lost, I sometimes will power through 5 or 6 episodes on a weekend instead of watching it over the course of a season.
 
I'd buy more at 99 cents

I agree the demand for TV shows would be much greater at that .99 price. Somebody send the studio execs to Econ 101.

At 1.99 an episode, you wind up paying MORE for a TV season than it would cost to buy these things on DVD! Not to mention the fact that there's virtually no production cost in digital distribution. To tell you the truth, I don't want DVD's and CDs cluttering up my house. I'd much rather have this content available online and easily stored on a HD for my own viewing.
 
whatever said:
I guess what I'm trying to say is that both HD DVD and BluRay formats are destined for extinction. Unlike both DVD and CD there replacement is already in use (OnDemand, DVR's and download options).
Click to expand...

see the problem is OTA and Cable/Satelite can't match HD DVD and BluRay.
1080p -Not enough bandwidth and it isn't in the ATSC broadcast spec (due to not enough bandwidth).
Dolby TrueHD/DTSMA -May see that but it will obviously take time as bandwidth is tight.
PCM -Not even likely as it is uncomressed sound

Download Options are great until you have to download huge files, on XBLMP Superman Returns is like 7 gig and that is only 720P without the high quality surround sound.
Today, there is no reason (besides lack of content) Apple couldn't sell 1080p content in the iTunes store. Yes, I know that QuickTime doesn't support Dolby Digital, but we all know that's just a software fix!.
Click to expand...
File size, which could be combated with more compression (eww!). Apple start using bittorrent or charging more as bandwidth isn't cheap.
I have a large DVD collection (and a even larger CD collection) and basically they're both collecting dust.

As far as the DVD extras go, how many people really watch them? And they could easily be offered as downloads too.
Click to expand...

I used to buy tons of DVD's but with the high def formats I have became picky. Shoot when I download episodes of shows that I have missed I even try to find an HD feed.
 
I HATE Price Cuts!

I can't believe they would think about cutting the price. I feel so ripped off when they cut the price. I'm rating this negative. Apple should always keep the price the same, even when the laws of supply and demand pressure them to lower prices. If they do cut the price I should get a refund! I mean a 50% price cut! Ugh! I could MAYBE get over it if they cut the price 10% or 25%, slowly, but a 50% price cut at once! Even though I valued the shows at $1.99 when I bought them and was happy until they cut the price, I am now upset because others pay less than I did. Apple stole from me. They actually removed the satisfaction that I previously had with the product. I think I'm going to buy a Dell with Windows Vista Home Premium and start using Unbox.
 
I really don't want to fill up my hard drive with TV shows.

I'd like to see $.75 - $.99 for renting any show (unlimited viewings, 3 - 6 month expiration) and keep the buy price at $1.99 per episode. Maybe even throw in a $.50 version which includes a few commercials.

At those prices and given enough content, we might see some people starting to drop thier sat/cable companies.
 
Bring it own Apple.

The TV distributors are quite a team to work with, hehe, lets see:

So it is bad if customers pay $23 for 23 episodes, but it is perfectly fine if the DVD hard set sells for 40 and the customers pay 45.77 for the same eposides at the 1.99 rate for lower quality downloads?

At the NBC rate of 4.99 it would be like 114.77 for the same episodes, no extra material, and lower quality.

Talks about a download TAX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As NBC and other have little to no distribution cost, do not include all the same material as the box set, and the quality of the video is lower with the downloads ........ I would think it should be cheaper to download.

Maybe they are using a new form of math that I do not know yet. Yea, that's it.
1oyvey.gif
 
Veldek said:
At $.99 I'd be really tempted to buy TV shows (as soon as they are here). I think the DVD comparison is flawed
Click to expand...

I agree. I have bought a few TV shows, but I would definitely buy a whole lot more at 99 cents. In fact, I would try a lot of shows that I've heard of but never watched. Removing the barrier to sample new things is what grows an audience. If I like it, I will start watching it regularly on TV.

If I really like a TV series, like X Files or CSI, I am going to buy the DVDs. Besides the extras, they are more permanent. I don't like to back-up large amounts of video from my hard disk. The DVDs are their own back-up.
 
mikea said:
This is absolutely a great idea. Being from Canada..we don't get itunes tv anyway,which sucks the big one. I download torrents, but the thing is, I would pay for it if it was avaliable....it has something to do with stupid liscencing laws up here.
Click to expand...

My current work-around is to buy myself an Apple Store (US) gift card whenever I'm down in the States. Register an account and you're good to go.
 
DVD is still superior

DVD is still the "best" for your money. DVD's can be played on a TV of any size without having to fork over another couple hundred dollars for an Apple TV...
DVD's have superior quality video, sound, and bonus features...
So, there is a place for iTunes shows for sure, but there is also a place for DVD based shows.
Lowering the price of iTunes shows may up the number of downloads, but it will not impact DVD sales since they are two different beasts.
If I could easily play my iTunes downloaded Eureka shows on my TV without an Apple TV box, and have them still look good, than I would fore go the actual DVD. Heck, I can't even put my legally purchased iTunes TV shows on DVD! Nope, DVD is here to stay as long as iTunes locks down the product sold.
 
Darkroom said:
NBC (and others) don't seem to understand modern living. who watches TV anymore? it's either TiVo or Torrents... i downloaded the entire season of Heroes (thinking i should probably check out what all the fuss is about)... but if each episode was $0.99 via iTunes, i probably would have bought the season instead of steal it (although "steal it" is a bit of an overstatement, since NBC aired it for free previously)...

NBC (and others) also need to realize that myself and millions of others are a modern audience... we don't watch TV, we watch the internet.
Click to expand...

i was thinking the same thing - for $1.99, i'd rather find the torrent and download it. but $0.99 is a good deal for guaranteed quality, quick releases (morning after, right?), immediate iPod-ability and an assuaged conscience ;)

99-cent downloads would convince a lot of on-the-fencers (regarding legal vs. illegal, torrent vs iTunes) to take the legal route. SIMILAR to the argument made about digital music. a lot of people aren't really trying to STEAL - they just want their content in convenient, relevant forms.
 
Mr.Gadget said:
DVD is still the "best" for your money. DVD's can be played on a TV of any size without having to fork over another couple hundred dollars for an Apple TV...
DVD's have superior quality video, sound, and bonus features...
So, there is a place for iTunes shows for sure, but there is also a place for DVD based shows.
Lowering the price of iTunes shows may up the number of downloads, but it will not impact DVD sales since they are two different beasts.
If I could easily play my iTunes downloaded Eureka shows on my TV without an Apple TV box, and have them still look good, than I would fore go the actual DVD. Heck, I can't even put my legally purchased iTunes TV shows on DVD! Nope, DVD is here to stay as long as iTunes locks down the product sold.
Click to expand...

So for a lot of us, playing these on TV isn't difficult and doesn't require new hardware. If you have a laptop, there are just so many ways to connect it to the TV. Even if you have a desktop, cabling is not really rocket science.

At any rate, they fill different needs. DVD's will never offer the opportunity to catch up on that new episode you missed because your DVR got priorities screwed up, power went out, or some other malfunction.
 
joeshell383 said:
I can't believe they would think about cutting the price. I feel so ripped off when they cut the price. I'm rating this negative. Apple should always keep the price the same, even though they want to grow their business and supply and demand is pressuring them to lower prices. If they do cut the price I should get a refund! I mean a 50% price cut! Ugh! I could MAYBE get over it if they cut the price 10% or 25%, slowly, but a 50% price cut at once! Even though I valued the shows at $1.99 when I bought them and was happy until they cut the price, I am now upset that others pay less than I did. Apple stole from me. They actually removed the satisfaction that I previously had with the product. I think I'm going to buy a Dell with Windows Vista Home Premium and start using Unbox.
Click to expand...

Thanks, that was well written. :D
 
Zadillo said:
Oh yeah, certainly, I didn't mean to make it sound like CD's don't offer any benefit either.

It's just that for many buyers, the benefits aren't quite as tangible, perhaps - or at least, not so much that they don't mind just buying the music online.

-Zadillo
Click to expand...

I understand that, I've bought things off of iTunes for that convienance. I'm just saying there are still some advantages, which are small for CD's.
 
I have no problem with paying $1.99 for individual episodes, but wish they would give deeper discounts for buying complete seasons. They shouldn't charge more for a season then is charged for the DVD version.

Other than that, I do hope they add more classic content. Whether they price it at .99 or 1.99 doesn't matter, I just don't like most of what's been coming out for the last 5+ years.
 
Since many people are unable to play an iTunes show on their TV anyway (I cannot)
the studios should worry about what?
--
 
joeshell383 said:
I can't believe they would think about cutting the price. I feel so ripped off when they cut the price. I'm rating this negative. Apple should always keep the price the same, even though they want to grow their business and supply and demand is pressuring them to lower prices. If they do cut the price I should get a refund! I mean a 50% price cut! Ugh! I could MAYBE get over it if they cut the price 10% or 25%, slowly, but a 50% price cut at once! Even though I valued the shows at $1.99 when I bought them and was happy until they cut the price, I am now upset that others pay less than I did. Apple stole from me. They actually removed the satisfaction that I previously had with the product. I think I'm going to buy a Dell with Windows Vista Home Premium and start using Unbox.
Click to expand...

Someone have their tongue planted firmly in their cheek??
 
I certainly think shows older than a year should be available for .99c - it will definitely spark much higher sales then.
 
From my perspective, there are two things to consider here. First, the DVD has the advantages of:

  • Durability
  • Higher quality video
  • Portability (ever want to go to a friend's house to watch that show? iTunes, no can do. DVD, just grab it and go.)

Second, iTunes has the advantages of:

  • Convenience (just download it, no going to the store or waiting for it to come in the mail)
  • Individual episodes rather than the whole season
  • Available while the season is still in progress.

So, as I see it, that last one is the big one in favor of iTunes (though from the 'sampling' point of view, the second one weighs in pretty well, too). Therefore, I could see an argument being put forward to have episodes that are part of the currently running season costing $1.99, while episodes from previous seasons, or classic TV, costing $.99. The $1.99 isn't really in competition with DVDs, as there are no DVDs available of shows that are currently running. Once there is DVD competition, then the price of the download drops.

Just my thoughts.
 
Tazzy531 said:
OH NO!!
I bought an episode last week for $1.99. Now it's dropped to $0.99. That's an unheard of 50% drop in price!

I'm going to start a petition that Apple refunds us early adopters of this new episode.

[/sarcasm]


Disclaimer: I bought the iPhone on launch day and don't think Apple owes us anything for dropping the price.
Click to expand...

since you don't need that $100, would you please donate that to a public school and post the receipt here to show you are a man of your word?
 
Snowy_River said:
... I could see an argument being put forward to have episodes that are part of the currently running season costing $1.99, while episodes from previous seasons, or classic TV, costing $.99....
Click to expand...

You are missing the point: the $0.99 is closer to the point where MOST would just pay it, instead of scouring the web for a pirated copy. If you drop the quality, or increase the price, you are simply making a larger portion of consumers spend the time and effort to obtain the show through different means. Econ 101.

24's 5th season on DVD is $26 on Amazon, which includes production of the DVD and packaging materials, art, extras, distribution and storage cost, and shipping to the consumer. The same show, without ANY of the extras, nice art and packaging, etc., is now almost $48 from iTunes. Do the math (but not like the content providers, who seem to think that 2+2 must equal 8.)
 
I think that's a little cheap...I'd pay for $1.49 though. Heck, I'm fine with $1.99. But not much more.

-=|Mgkwho
 
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