Apple With Modest Expectations for 'iTV' and TV Show Rentals?

[liquidsuns]

Well, for me personally, there's not much Apple can do because I literally get tv for free; my landlord pays for it. I do have an apple tv though and use it for streaming handbraked netflix discs.

I'd buy a new apple tv if they improve the software and there is a netflix app. As for tv rentals, I only watch national geo and discovery channel (which has some great shows, for everyone that says tv is totally worthless), so if I wasn't getting them for free and they had those channels, I'd ditch directv for iTunes rentals. Except I wouldn't because, like most Americans, I have a relatively slow Internet speed. Netflix streams fine but the quality isn't too good and I wouldn't watch Speed of Life or any other show I like at less then HD quality.

 

[trip1ex]

streaming from computer along with apps and iTunes would be compelling in and of itself at $99 as long as apps included stuff like Netflix, Hulu+ and Amazon-on-demand.

Who knows what other apps would prove useful.

Just an iTunes box though with no other content-resellers allowed wouldn't be as attractive.

In my case I'd probably buy one anyway as my music and movies/tv shows are stored in iTunes. And the price is so cheap especially compared to what Apple charges for an iPod Dock, remote, and av cables for hooking up an iPod to the TV/stereo.

There's a ton of folks with iPOds and even more using just iTunes.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

"Most consumers aren't ready to cut the cord to their cable company......"

Really?? I sure am! The prices are insane if you want to watch only two or three shows on two or three channels of the hundreds they force you to subscribe to.

If Apple do this right they can actually revolutionize the TV industry, but this report makes it sound like they aren't really thinking too hard about what they can offer and how they can offer it.

I'm sure there are also tons of independent film makers, short story producers, etc. that would love the opportunity to throw their content onto an iTunes audience. .......similar to the way you can find way more musicians/bands on iTunes than the local shop.

After playing with Netflix instant streaming for the last month, I'm ready to ditch cable TV for good. I have rabbit ears for major networks / sporting events / news. I'm moving in a couple months but the cable box might not make the move with me.

 

[velocityg4]

$0.99 is way too much for a TV episode rental. They need a mixed commercial/subscription model like cable and satellite television to be viable. Perhaps adding a higher rate subscription for commercial free.

From what I have read the average american household watches about 6 1/2 hours of TV a day. Assuming ones house follows this than that is $6.50 a day and $2372.5 a year or $197.70 a month.

This would only cover the families main TV. In many households there are several TV's which would probably be closer to 10 hours of combined viewing per day. So $3,650 a year or $304.17 a month.

Add to this the pricey internet plan to cover all that HD video bandwidth, usage caps, lower quality 720P video and most people not being understanding technology well enough to use these in place of cable/satellite boxes. I just don't see this as being a viable arrangement.

I'll stick with my 1080 HD cable service at $175 a month with HBO, Showtime and Encore. Running to four TV's and a DVR for the main one and high speed cable internet.

Drop rental rates to $0.20 and $0.99 to own then I could see this taking the place of cable/satellite. Though I would agree that this would work for those households that watch very little television.

 

[DogHouseDub]

If he has such non-belief in a product, why even bother ? A LG BD370 sounds like a better option everyday. Full DLNA streaming, including MKV container support and Blu-ray to boot. All connected either through Ethernet or Wi-Fi. For 149$ most places.

Go quiz people walking down the street and tell me how long it takes you to find someone that knows what "MKV container support" means. There still is not a home video solution that "just works" aside from cable/satellite. Restarting apps, file format incompatibilities, and the lack of tech-savvy within the population at large make this a no-go thus far.

Appletv does pretty well, but troubleshooting will kill joeaverageconsumer. Restart appletv, restart wireless router - now what?

Interestingly, the most robust solution I've seen thus far is an iPad running AirVideo, which can stream and convert content from another computer. It manages to properly convert and play videos that iTunes can't read and that Boxee can't keep audio/video sync in place.

 

[neonmd]

I for one am ready to cut the cord. I watch barely any of the content on TV and most times am dissapointed by what is on and turn to my iPad most recently to read or e-mail or browse. If it wasn't for live sporting events and the educational channels like NatGeo or History channel I doubt I would watch much of anything at all.

 

[Salacion]

I think the only game change would be a TV set that integrates itunes, basically the rumored "Apple TV set". However this doesn't make sense if the concept isn't fully supported by the studios. The studios are too stupid to see where the market is going.

My TV consumption is down by 95%. I only watch a few shows through Hulu because it's simply too inconvenient for my lifestyle to be at home and watch a show at 10pm till 11pm. And I don't want to go throught the expense and hassle of recording and viewing at home only. This also means I'm not buying a large new TV because I'm not using it enough.

The studios have to accept that they will lose lots of viewers over the next few years because many people shift their media entertainment to the computer. If the studios don't come up with a convenient and cheap model that can compete with Hulu and the likes they will lose a lot of the younger generation.

Cheaper? Sure. Viable? Well...

Let's use Survivor as an example.

They have a crew of 300 people. The low end of the film crew receives between $300-$500 a week for their services. The higher end receives $600-$1000 a week for their services (editors, directors, etc.). They spend about 5 months shooting abroad. So in general, about 5 million goes to the film crew, excluding travel fees, stay and food (which amounts to about another mil).

Now, what about equipment? To film abroad, they have to make arrangements with the government. Many times this involves a fee. They import their equipment by the way, which can be quite costly. They also rent helicopters for aerial shots, etc. Also remember the 1 mil the winner receives, set pieces, etc. etc.

So for the nature of assumption, let's assume a 12-15 mil filming fee. That's quite a bit. How do they make this back? (a) Sponsors (b) Advertisements (c) Fee Per Showing (d) Season DVD sets. All of which are necessary for the Studio and the producer to make a profit, and pay the people who work on it.

My point is this, rentals and purchases via iTunes just doesn't provide the same revenue that advertisement, reruns, etc. do. And while if a large scale switch to this type of system occurred and they did make a profit, the whole thought of change and an unproven system bring about this rejection.

 

[pixelcruncher]

"Most consumers aren't ready to cut the cord to their cable company......"

Really?? I sure am! The prices are insane if you want to watch only two or three shows on two or three channels of the hundreds they force you to subscribe to.

Live sporting events are so important to the average viewer that I'm not sure Apple can ever displace cable/dish. If Apple wants this to be a runaway success it will have to merge seamlessly with live, dvr-able (gotta be able to pause and replay) sports programming. Its also incredibly important to advertisers and content providers, since it is one of the few types of programming that people don't mind sitting through commercials.

 

[fxtech]

Interesting idea. $1/episode isn't THAT bad if you only watch a few series like I do.

But no 1080P? No thanks.

 

[Stella]

I can't see how this can be a game changer - many alternatives are better than AppleTV and will continue to be.

personally, I'm not ready to pay $1 an epsoide when I can use "OnDemand". Additionally, I'm not ready to pay data over use charges either due to consuming too much bandwidth via AppleTV.

I would be interested in paying say $20 a month for eat all you can. Of course that will not happen.

The new piece focuses on Apple's ambitions with the video rental service, which Burrows notes is not expected to be a game-changer in the same sense that the iPod and iPhone remade their markets.According to Burrows' source, Apple will primarily pitch the video rental service for "catch-up viewing", allowing users to watch episodes of their favorite series they may have missed or to try out shows recommended by friends.

 

[balamw]

Once a hobby, always a hobby?

Seems to contradict the earlier article about hiring a large new sales/support force.

B

 

[Lepton]

What iTV apps would you like to see?

I expect the new AppleTV will have video in and out, so you could hook it between your cable box and the TV, and that it would pass through the video. I also expect that it you can run current iPad apps on your TV. But the kicker is I expect that new apps will be able to overlay their output on top of the TV output, so you could make widget apps, like weather, stock or sports tickers, and so on.

As a software developer, I'm very interested in this possibility. What kind of apps would you like to see overlaid upon live TV?

 

[chugg]

One word, actually 3 letters: iOS

Think about it, it has to appeal to international market, iTV for the US and concentrate on TV content is not going to make it a feasible product, why do you think it'll be $99? How many TV shows would you have to buy just for them to make enough profit? I'd imagine they are selling it at loss in the beginning, think apps, games, social networking, face time...

No way they are selling at a loss if this thing isn't even powerful enough to do 1080p. Hell, year old media players that sell for under $100 can do 1080p and they don't even have their own online content stores like Apple does.

 

[Salacion]

No way they are selling at a loss if this thing isn't even powerful enough to do 1080p. Hell, year old media players that sell for under $100 can do 1080p and they don't even have their own online content stores like Apple does.

Please provide a link to this, if you can...

 

[rsands1]

I know I don't count for everyone on here or consumers in general ,but I am another one who wants to ditch their cable. I don't EVER watch television anymore. After I got Netflix so many shows and movies were available to watch COMMERCIAL FREE that I just stopped watching tv at all. Cable TV is nothing but insane amounts of commercial one after the other on every single station. Nothing is ever on when you want it to be and browsing through the channels is an absolute mess. You can never figure out whats on and at what times...its just such a **** experience. The box you rent costs more then Netlix and thats just for the stupid 10 year old box that runs an operating system slower then hell. I watch Netflix via PS3 and it is a joy. Watch what I want when I want it..commercial free! If I could watch every single thing netflix had instead of ordering DVDs I would cancel cable instantly. Oh and yea I did call the cable company to cancel once and I would save about $15 per month...why you ask? Because they JACK UP the internet price once you cancel your cable...so your $45 internet is now $85 if you cancel cable with it. F@ck you cable companies!

 

[jdm111]

To be honest, i'd buy an iTV at $99, but not an Apple TV at $229.
Leading The Way

 

[KnightWRX]

Go quiz people walking down the street and tell me how long it takes you to find someone that knows what "MKV container support" means. There still is not a home video solution that "just works" aside from cable/satellite. Restarting apps, file format incompatibilities, and the lack of tech-savvy within the population at large make this a no-go thus far.

And I care about people walking down the street because ... ? You can hardly argue that Apple TV is a huge success either way.

 

[macleon]

what about bandwidth?

I don't think I would pay .99 for renting a show. Anyway most networks have their shows on line.
Where I live my internet provider cap my bandwidth at 85 Gb per month.
How many shows or movies would take to reach that limit?
Also if I cut the cable, my provider will increase the price of the internet by around 15 bucks per month.
Not happy about it

 

[jumanji]

i watch newer movies on my existing apple tv all the time. i watch old stuff on netflix. a marriage of the 2 would be cool. my dvr is built in to my receiver and i'm not getting rid of cable. i think it would be cool to play my ipad or iphone games on the tv. the lack of 1080p is disappointing but i don't think it's a deal breaker. i would love a blu ray player built in also but i don't see this happening.

 

[Lepton]

I think we may be missing the boat on what the iTV might be or do, and we are over-emphasizing the TV show rental aspect of it. It's not a TV as much as it is a wall-sized iPad.

When Steve introduced iPad, he sat in an easy chair with the thing on his lap, enjoying various content. The iTV may simply be a big screen version of this. Sit back in that chair and enjoy those same apps on the big screen TV on your living room wall. Now the whole family can enjoy that Netflix or Hulu app or iTunes-rented TV show. Have the Magic trackpad by your side to control it, or an iPhone/iPad/iTouch remote app. But there are many apps that would work great on a big TV. Play single player games that give you a video game console-like experience; play multiplayer games with multiple magic trackpads; surf the net... The new device may be more about leveraging the app store than the iTunes store.

 

[WiiDSmoker]

Please provide a link to this, if you can...

The WD TV Live and Live Plus do 1080P. The both do high end audio codecs. Live Plus has built in Netflix, Pandora, etc.

I use thie Live Plus to play my Blu-ray rips off my network. Works flawlessly. The live Plus cost 109. The Live which does everything except Netflix can be found for $50.

 

[KnightWRX]

Have the Magic trackpad by your side to control it,

I doubt there's much support in iOS for cursor based input like offered by a trackpad. Of course, maybe it is built in there just for such a purpose.

A Touch Screen and a Trackpad don't translate well from one to the other. The trackpad requires a curse, because you can't know for sure how the coordinates translate from the screen to the touch surface on the trackpad otherwise.

If they do ship iOS on AppleTV, expect a different UI front end than on the iPad and iPhone, and expect a different set of input APIs. Also expect some apps to not work at all or very differently.

 

[LethalWolfe]

Cheaper? Sure. Viable? Well...

Exactly. Studios and networks see what is happening which means they also see the severe lack of dollar signs. Once that gets figured out the flood gates will start to open, IMO. Hulu, which right now is the gold standard for how to monetize video content on the internet, barely makes enough money just to distribute content. If Hulu had to actually pay for the creation of the content it streams the site would be so in debt it wouldn't even be funny. Ad rates for the internet just blow which is a big part of the problem. Another part of the problem is that on the internet the more popular you are the more money it costs to distribute the content compared to broadcast or cable where distribution costs are pretty fixed. For example, YouTube's success is also a big part of the reason it is a giant money pit for Google.

Let's use Survivor as an example.

Your estimates are a bit low, IMO. I've worked on no-name reality shows as an assistant editor and made $1000/wk. The guys working on Survivor are working on a top shelf show and will be getting top shelf rates accordingly. This article is very old and it puts the cost per episode of Survivor at up to 1.6mil depending on the location and challenges performed. This is from '01 though so costs probably aren't the same but it at least gives an idea.


Lethal

 

[Salacion]

The WD TV Live and Live Plus do 1080P. The both do high end audio codecs. Live Plus has built in Netflix, Pandora, etc.

I use thie Live Plus to play my Blu-ray rips off my network. Works flawlessly. The live Plus cost 109. The Live which does everything except Netflix can be found for $50.

Please provide link to a 4 year old 1080p player costing under $100, or I call BS.

That's what I thought...

 

[radicalcentrist]

This...

Live sporting events are so important to the average viewer that I'm not sure Apple can ever displace cable/dish. If Apple wants this to be a runaway success it will have to merge seamlessly with live, dvr-able (gotta be able to pause and replay) sports programming. Its also incredibly important to advertisers and content providers, since it is one of the few types of programming that people don't mind sitting through commercials.

I'm JoeAverageTVViewer with a few upgrades. The only way I see this happening is via network "apps" like the ABC app for iPad.

Give me an iTV with "apps" I can subscribe to, much like a la carte cable, and I'd buy one.

But it only works if it also provides live content. There's no way I'm giving up college football Saturdays, NFL Sundays with Fox and CBS, college basketball on ESPN....I could see having a "team" channel.

Say you're a die-hard Cowboys and Longhorns fan. You could "subscribe" to the Cowboys app (all of their games, press conferences, additional content from the team, etc.) or the NFL East app (pick "your" team, it's your team's app plus all of the games for other teams in your division) or the NFC or NFL apps.

The same thing could apply to college athletics. In the above example, you could get Texas games, Big XII games, NCAA games, etc.

CBS could offer a March Madness on Demand app, for all of the tournament games.

It would be really cool to select the "ABC App" and have the option to "watch live" or, say all of the episodes from the current season, with the ability to rent or purchase episodes from previous seasons, all "within the app."

If you consider your TV just a giant iPad and your iTV as the processor, it's a whole new way to experience media and choose what you want to consume. In-app purchasing, interactive iAds on your TV, use your iPhone/iPod Touch as a remote, Safari, Netflix, iWork....

I'd be pretty darn excited if that's what it becomes. But I'm sure that's just wishful thinking.