Apple to Invite Hollywood Stars to TV Service Launch on March 25 [Updated]

[ldandp0]

I knew it.



Second prediction: we’ll see a new AppleTV announced at this event. Apple isn’t going to miss an opportunity to plug the AppleTV and they’re not going to pitch a 2 year old device with their brand new services.

In order to get maximum sales out of this new AppleTV, they’ll want to entice existing owners to upgrade. A new design will do that. I can see an AppleTV in a unibody enclosure that looks like a smaller Mac mini.

I’m less confident about an AppleTV dongle because Apple already brought all the major manufacturers on side with AirPlay built in going forward. That said, if an HDMI dongle is released, I’d imagine it’d come with the TV App built in and no tvOS App Store. The TV app would be its home screen. TV App + AirPlay for $99, 3 months of TV service included.

Who cares about what a set top box design looks like? Clean design dictates that the "set top box" is not visible.. TV designs now are thinner and thinner, and when mounted, should have everything else hidden from view.

Apple missed the boat with this one. Software is on the TV now, and I'm not sure they've given one compelling reason to "subscribe" to any half baked service they are offering.

Apple right now is starting with the goal of creating a subscription. They just are figuring out what the subscription should be for after the fact. This all reeks of desperation, of course. If I was a stock holder I'd be quickly heading for the exit.

 

[Brandhouse]

It will include TV shows and movies acquired by or funded by Apple, and Apple has more than two dozen original television shows in the works. An actual paid subscription service will launch by the summer.

If it means all the lame and boring ideas floated about the TV shows that Apple were funding etc., then I can't see a big take up for it (yes, that's an assumption - but for me, none of it sounded the last bit interesting).

 

[ersan191]

Pretty poor reporting...
More like nobody knew the exact details. This is an Apple event we’re talking about...not
the most transparent things.

I mean they could have just used common sense. An entire event for a news subscription?

 

[ipponrg]

If I was a stock holder I'd be quickly heading for the exit.

As a Stock holder, I’m betting on random news to bump the price. I’ve made good money already. Buy low, sell high

 

[ipedro]

Who cares about what a set top box design looks like? Clean design dictates that the "set top box" is not visible.. TV designs now are thinner and thinner, and when mounted, should have everything else hidden from view.
.

Who cares what a computer looks like? Beige boxes work just fine.

Dude, if you don’t care about design, you’re on a forum for the wrong company.

Apple missed the boat with this one. Software is on the TV now, and I'm not sure they've given one compelling reason to "subscribe" to any half baked service they are offering.

They “haven’t given one compelling reason to subscribe” because they haven’t even announced anything.

 

[omihek]

Probably US only while Netflix is available in 100+ countries

Seriously, if Apple can't launch in 100+ countries on day one, they might as well not launch at all!

 

[mariusignorello]

I mean they could have just used common sense. An entire event for a news subscription?

That too. But...sensational headlines = $$

 

[JamesMay82]

I’m really excited about the tv streaming platform and I hope it has all usuals like Netflix get.

It just annoys me that companies get outbid in certain shows so then you need Netflix for x and then prime for x and it just becomes as expensive as you be traditional cable model.

 

[G4DPII]

Apple have one thing in their corner on this the close ties between Apple and Disney, especially since the deal between Disney and 20th Century Fox. Whilst not everyones cup of tea, if Disney do not renew current deals with Nextflix/Amazon on content and make them Apple/Disney Exclusive there is a bucket load of stuff people will no longer be able to watch.

The price will also be interesting, will have to be inline with the competition if it's more expensive, no amount of exclusive content will save it. Would guess it'll follow in the ranges of Netflix for the different features you get at different price bands.

 

[9081094]

It’s a press event so Apple can better communicate their intent to the press with their own context, not a “You” event.

Yawn.

 

[Shanghaichica]

I wonder how long it will take to get the streaming service in the uk.

Hopefully we will at least get the magazine service out of the gate.

 

[IGI2]

Probably US only while Netflix is available in 100+ countries

Over 190 countries:

https://help.netflix.com/en/node/14164

Yeah, it's a huge disappointment that Apple couldn't get it international. It's their own production, they can't hide behind preposterous TV licenses, etc.

I can stand 3 months of US-only start, that's reasonable, translators need their time to make subtitles, etc. but more delay is just an unprofessional move.

We have Amazon Prime Video in Poland, Netflix, HBO, and WHY JUST APPLE COULDN'T GET IT TOGETHER.

PS The so-called FREE Carpool Karaoke Season 2 is still NOT available in Poland in any way. Free, paid, via Apple Music, via TV app, no series 2 at all. Thanks Apple.

 

[jonnysods]

Services are the next wave of Apples revenue. Expect more of these events than hardware events I guess....

 

[FightTheFuture]

It'll be a flop like Apple Music.

I suppose this is sarcasm. I wouldn’t call 50 million paid subs a flop.

 

[MacBH928]

Remember Ping?

 

[JagdTiger]

Remember Ping?

There was pong but that was Atari.

 

[tharitm]

I feel like we'll see an updated iPad 9.7 along this as well, to use the new subscription service especially the news papers.

 

[az431]

This makes a thousand times more sense than an event just for a news subscription... some pretty poor reporting before.

Well it's MR, copy and paste "journalism" at its finest.
[doublepost=1550156327][/doublepost]

ohhhhh hollywood stars.....yah who cares!

You took the time to post, so seems like you care deeply.
[doublepost=1550156374][/doublepost]

Apple have one thing in their corner on this the close ties between Apple and Disney, especially since the deal between Disney and 20th Century Fox. Whilst not everyones cup of tea, if Disney do not renew current deals with Nextflix/Amazon on content and make them Apple/Disney Exclusive there is a bucket load of stuff people will no longer be able to watch.

The price will also be interesting, will have to be inline with the competition if it's more expensive, no amount of exclusive content will save it. Would guess it'll follow in the ranges of Netflix for the different features you get at different price bands.

The sun will burnt out before that happens.
[doublepost=1550156469][/doublepost]

Seriously, if Apple can't launch in 100+ countries on day one, they might as well not launch at all!

Why? Hulu is only available in the US or Japan.

 

[DNichter]

Never like these sort of keynotes, but I am looking forward to the service. The list of shows, actors, directors, and writers gives me confidence that they will have some good content. We'll see how it all goes.

 

[az431]

Over 190 countries:

https://help.netflix.com/en/node/14164

Yeah, it's a huge disappointment that Apple couldn't get it international. It's their own production, they can't hide behind preposterous TV licenses, etc.

I can stand 3 months of US-only start, that's reasonable, translators need their time to make subtitles, etc. but more delay is just an unprofessional move.

We have Amazon Prime Video in Poland, Netflix, HBO, and WHY JUST APPLE COULDN'T GET IT TOGETHER.

PS The so-called FREE Carpool Karaoke Season 2 is still NOT available in Poland in any way. Free, paid, via Apple Music, via TV app, no series 2 at all. Thanks Apple.

It may be their own productions, but they still need to comply with local laws and regulations. Moreover, it's obviously a larger investment of time and resources to server 100 countries than one.

If Apple rolled out to 100 countries, the first thing people would say on any minor glitch is why didn't Apple focus on one territory first.

 

[NMBob]

Timmy isn't going to try to high-five-shake someone again, is he?

 

[Mac 128]

But they are the ones holding the keys if Apple wants to be in that business. They’re the content owners.

Just like iTunes. Apple got iTunes Music store going because Jobs approached the music executives and labels. They’re the content owners.
[doublepost=1550111428][/doublepost]I still think this chasing Netflix thing is not a good idea for Apple. Licensing shows for streaming and making them are not cheap. Look at Netflix. They might seem popular, but their cash flow imo is not that great. They in fact need to keep on raising prices. Amazon made it look easy because their service is just a gateway for their e-commerce and cloud business.

Why don’t Apple look at iCloud first? iCloud definitely has much better margin for Apple, and they only need to spend a bit more to make it into a consumer friendlier competitor to Office 365.

Apple is not chasing the Netflix model, as Netflix isn’t diversified — they’re a means to an end. Apple is more of an Amazon model, driving customers to their other widely diversified products and services. Both companies will outlast Netflix. Netflix has done itself a great disservice by throwing everything at the wall, regardless of quality, desperately hoping something will stick to keep cusomers subscribing, and as a result has tarnished their reputation for the only product they’ve got.

Who cares about what a set top box design looks like? Clean design dictates that the "set top box" is not visible.. TV designs now are thinner and thinner, and when mounted, should have everything else hidden from view.

Apple missed the boat with this one. Software is on the TV now, and I'm not sure they've given one compelling reason to "subscribe" to any half baked service they are offering.

Apple right now is starting with the goal of creating a subscription. They just are figuring out what the subscription should be for after the fact. This all reeks of desperation, of course. If I was a stock holder I'd be quickly heading for the exit.

Of course not. Apple offers far more than most other subscription services. And they have a lot of real world examples of what works and what doesn’t. Apple will bring a service to market fine tuned to cherry pick the best of what works and make it better as they usually do. The beauty of creating original content is it has the potential to level the playing field regardless of how late they may be to the game, and the resources to ensure they capitalize on that success. Netflix is the company that investors should be eying the exits.

Apple have one thing in their corner on this the close ties between Apple and Disney, especially since the deal between Disney and 20th Century Fox. Whilst not everyones cup of tea, if Disney do not renew current deals with Nextflix/Amazon on content and make them Apple/Disney Exclusive there is a bucket load of stuff people will no longer be able to watch.

The price will also be interesting, will have to be inline with the competition if it's more expensive, no amount of exclusive content will save it. Would guess it'll follow in the ranges of Netflix for the different features you get at different price bands.

Apple is a direct competitor of Disney’s new streaming service. They aren’t going to give Apple anything that helps them take business away from Disney’s own fledgling service.

 

[BGPL]

I moved off Apple TV to the Fire TV a few years ago. We'll see if this is enough to bring me back. They are super late to the party though... but so far there's plenty of room to be impressed, I've had every service out there and none of them were up to par.

I went to OTA HDTV and that's the happiest I've been with the Amazon Recast. Hopefully they bring with them some great contracts.

 

[blacktape242]

Well it's MR, copy and paste "journalism" at its finest.
[doublepost=1550156327][/doublepost]

You took the time to post, so seems like you care deeply.
[doublepost=1550156374][/doublepost]

The sun will burnt out before that happens.
[doublepost=1550156469][/doublepost]

Why? Hulu is only available in the US or Japan.

no i really dont care about anyone in hollywood, I deeply dont care.

 

[Mac 128]

I moved off Apple TV to the Fire TV a few years ago. We'll see if this is enough to bring me back. They are super late to the party though... but so far there's plenty of room to be impressed, I've had every service out there and none of them were up to par.

I went to OTA HDTV and that's the happiest I've been with the Amazon Recast. Hopefully they bring with them some great contracts.

Not at all. All it takes is one hit to be on top. Netflix has no other products. Amazon is the model here. And Apple is no later than Disney, Warner Bros./ATT, Comcast Universal, and othe rmajor players. Moreover, Apple has all of those other real world examples to know what’s working and what isn’t. One hit and Apple has the resources to stay on top.