Apple's 'Hard-Nosed' Negotiating Tactics Leading to Trouble in Television Market

[apolloa]

So Apple basically go into the talks and state WE WANT THIS AND WE DO NOT ACCEPT ANYTHING ELSE AND YOU WILL DO IT FOR THIS PRICE...

And everyone's surprised they are firmly shown the middle finger and where to go??
I'm surprised all they get told is where to go, it seems to have certainly damaged its reputation amongst content providers. As for ad skipping fetures and content for $30 a month...... What cloud cookoo land is Apple living in again???? It's certainly not reality that's for sure.
Then again it sells a watch costing several thousands of dollars with a mechanism made for $3 of a Chinese mass production line....

 

[drewyboy]

So the entire, "I've cracked the tv", thing Steve Jobs said in his biography - was that BS?

And, I love the part where you would have had to sign in with your apple id, yet Comcast would take care of billing and customer care was VERY telling to Comcast. No seeing around that one.

I have to believe it was real... when he said that. He just never got the opportunity to close on that dream. He left it in Cooks hands and well now we get country specific watch bands.

A dream left in the hands of fools is like a blooming flower in the heat of the day. What was once promising now withers away never to be seen again.

 

[Rogifan]

Or it shows they listened to customers. Would you rather they have drawn a line in the sand and refused to change it? I swear, some people are never pleased.

No the question is how did the v1 Apple Music app ever make it out the door? Same with TV 4 shipping with no BT keyboard support or updated remote app making entering passwords a royal pain.

 

[jpn]

apple needs to focus.
on cloud infrastructure, on devices, on user OS.
stay out of entertainment when it means content creation.

 

[Apple Corps]

Sure, those "fiascos" are bigger than all of Facebook.

"Bigger" than Facebook - in what way?

 

[mantan]

This ^^. Cable TV and cable networks are a complete racket, that with each passing year is looking more like the land line phone company (Bell) from yesteryear. In 20 years, I think we will remember in quaint fondness over the obsolescence of the cable tv the way we do when we see a Bell telephone haning on a kitchen wall in a movie... you know, the one with the 10 foot tangled coiled cord.

In some ways yes, in some ways no.

The bundle approach has led to reliable revenue streams that literally has us in a golden age of television. There is a lot of high quality programming out there that wouldn't be made without the safety net of predictable revenue streams. There is a lot of niche programming each of us enjoy that supplemented by the 'junk' in our eyes that we don't watch.

Is there a way to trim some fat? For sure. But I sure as hell don't expect Apple to lead the way in making it cheaper. They are trying to deal their way into a pretty lucrative industry by pushing content providers/networks to take a hit so THEY can make money on the back end. And for providing what, I'm really not sure. Apple TV is in the same bucket as Sling, VUE, Roku, etc - as clumsy limited front ends to network apps.

I think the future will be different in that most content will be streamed and a lot will be on demand. But until there is agreement on a front end interface, it'll be a hodge podge - just like the music industry is now.

 

[Rogifan]

Search. Scrolling through endless menus. Clean, simple.

It's just a grid of apps. What's superior about that?

 

[iChrist]

Eddy Cue is a master something, that's for sure.

Maybe I'm being quite harsh. But boy does he rub me the wrong way.

Not harsh at all. He rides Jobs coattails and everything he touches is subpar compared to the rest of Apple's lineup. Eddie "no f'n clue" Cue.

 

[nt5672]

Seems to me if Apple continued to innovate the ATV then cable co's would be motivated to jump on board. It was my understanding that ATV was touted as being the center of the household, but what can you really do with it right now? Consumers want more games, more home kit controls, better (solid) integration with iTunes, etc. Give us a reason to turn it on in the first place. I'm happy with my cable provider, its always on, never have to sign in and don't have to update anything!

But the writing is on the wall, cable co's better figure it out.

Another product (AppleTV) that missed the "insanely great" target. Instead it is a mediocre dumbed down PC with way to many unnecessary limitations. It seems so stupid to be holding back 4k for the big media announcement when no one is going to care because choices have already been made.

 

[apolloa]

Phil Schiller is in charge of the App Store now. I'm sure a lot of the services revenue increase is IAP.mas far as Apple Music goes...how many subscribers would Apple have had it been a separate app downloadable via the App Store vs. turning the native music app into an Apple Music app? Also it doesn't look good when an app is completely redesigned only a year after being introduced. Just shows what a cluster-you know what Apple Music was to start out with.

This oh sooooo much. I really don't like the music app. It used to be simple and easy, when I started using it on my new current gen iPod Touch I had to google how to do so!! Hardly what Apple should be doing...

 

[v0lume4]

Netflix original content is very compelling and interesting. The proposed shows from Apple are...not.

Come on, man. You know you want to learn about fledgling Dr Dre as well as watch car karaoke.

 

[2457282]

Cue is Apple's services boat anchor. Beats? iTunes? iBooks? TV?

All fiascos. Time to shake things up.

I wish I could up vote this more than once. I would not go so far as calling these services fiascos, but Cue has missed the boat on a lot of opportunities and gotten himself in legal hot water more than once. We need to cue up new leadership in the services area and soon.

 

[4jasontv]

The TV industry has seen what Apple did to the music and mobile industries (essentially grabbing all the profit) and is determined not to make the same mistake. Who can blame them?

I'll bite. Customers. Customers can blame them. I don't care about distributors making money. The whole point of getting al la cart pricing was to break these business's up and throw them out. Sure, their existence allowed for amazing content to be affordable, but that was the past. They screwed content creators and milked consumers for decades because they always thought they would be in control.

For me, a sample size of one, I watch 90% you tube, 6% Netflix, 3% others streaming content, and 1% broadcast TV. If it wasn't for the Xbox I wouldn't even have a TV anymore.

The problem is that we allowed distributors to own content. Why does Comcast need to control NBC if not to keep their distribution method relavent? Independently NBC, or even better the actual writers, directors, and actors, who make the content. The creative personnel that built these companies are perpetually trapped, not by businesses, but by bullies.

 

[HiVolt]

I'm glad that Apple isn't able to bully the TV industry... They don't have any leverage to be able to dictate terms to the TV industry.

Apple wants a cut of everything, well guess what, so do the TV networks, content owners & producers...

This isn't gonna be a battle Apple is gonna win (dictating terms, etc), at least not for some time. They're gonna have to compromise and slowly try to influence them over time.

 

[KidAKidB]

There are two sides of the table. Apple may be "hard-nosed" but networks are "reluctant" to change and evolve. Which of course worked real well for newspapers and magazines to dig heels in.

TV networks are willing to change and evolve, but why should they evolve at their own expense and let Apple make all the money out of it? Should it not be their decision on how their content gets used?

 

[supersalo]

"In particular, Apple wanted to freeze for several years the monthly rate per viewer it would pay to license Disney channels. TV channels usually get annual rate increases and rely on them to fuel profit growth."

And that's the difference between the two. Apple is consumer friendly (and realizes) that being good to the customer is good for Apple's profits.

TV Networks are very consumer unfriendly and are only driven by profit (at the expense of customer satisfaction).

 

[WinstonRumfoord]

Can't wait for the Dee Barnes episode!!!

Even money says that plot line is conveniently omitted... Any takers?

 

[3568378]

Seems to me if Apple continued to innovate the ATV then cable co's would be motivated to jump on board. It was my understanding that ATV was touted as being the center of the household, but what can you really do with it right now? Consumers want more games, more home kit controls, better (solid) integration with iTunes, etc. Give us a reason to turn it on in the first place. I'm happy with my cable provider, its always on, never have to sign in and don't have to update anything!

But the writing is on the wall, cable co's better figure it out.

I completely agree with you about the lack of purpose and functionality on the highly talented new Apple TV. However to see that you were satisfied with cable is interesting as well. always on yes but always expensive as well The majority of it being content that I could care less about.

 

[gijoeinla]

This ^^. Cable TV and cable networks are a complete racket, that with each passing year is looking more like the land line phone company (Bell) from yesteryear. In 20 years, I think we will remember in quaint fondness over the obsolescence of the cable tv the way we do when we see a Bell telephone haning on a kitchen wall in a movie... you know, the one with the 10 foot tangled coiled cord.

Exactly. I work in the entertainment content industry here in Los Angeles and I can "reassure" you Eddy Cue haters that if you for one second you feel that it's all him and only him -- you got it wayyyy wrong.

Content is king. Period. The content players are not going to bend from pressure until the pressure gets so great they cave. it's not there yet. Cue is right on. It will get there. Sooner rather than later.

Some of you forget the bloodsport the content companies engaged in fighting between the HD-DVD and Blu-Ray formats. Some of you may not know that Apple was in the Blu Ray consortium but never adapted it's devices to play them -- ever.

While all of you "Cue Haters" don't like his style apparently you missed the Steve Jobs memo that took out disc drives from their devices right at the time Blu Ray and content companies were hoping to ride that gravy train longer. Do ANY of you think that move went over well?

Personally --- If I were Apple --- I'd be using Cue to "buy" their own content deals with everything from Football, basketball, soccer, etc -- start buying up "rights", start acquiring exclusive content and watch how fast negotiations change. Yes, i know easier said than done because they risk getting all their access to content cut off -- not likely -- but clearly the audience out there could care less where the content comes from that they like -- proven by success of Netflix and Amazon and HBO...

 

[niun]

Come on, man. You know you want to learn about fledgling Dr Dre as well as watch car karaoke.

Surely there is a great wealth of original programming from Apple.

Fashion / Engineering:
- Jive with Ive
Business / Travel:
- Cook In China
- Cook In India

to name a few...

 

[ChrisCW11]

I am not sure what Apple's strategy is here, but it seems like they want their fingers in two different pies; they want to become THE front end for Big Cable by having traditional cable services hosted on Apple TV, but then they also what to set up their own cable subscription service in direct competition with Big Cable.

They will not succeed in this area if they remain duplicitous about their intentions, look at how far Apple TV has dropped in the market ranks while Apple stumbles around trying to own your living room. Apple needs to pick one of either strategy and go all in, either whore out Big Cable services, or drop them and do their own thing.

In either case, all Apple customers will end up doing is cutting one cord and re-attaching to Apple's own branded cord, I will admit they will make indentured servitude paying a large monthly bill seem nicer, but at the end of the day you will spend $80+ a month to another greedy-ass corporation who doesn't really give a **** about you.

 

[Ankou_Sabat]

I really don't understand the hate and automatic assumption that this is all on Apple. I mean really how many times have you seen networks battle it out and in public like DirectTV, TimeWarner, etc. These TV cable providers are fighting all the way out the door for the last thread. They are the buggy whip companies that are way past their time and they'll fight tooth and nail for the last cent. So really I have zero sympathy for the cable companies, they've been screwing over their customers for years and they made it into a business practice. Honestly the longer these guys hold out from giving into a system like Apple and consolidating, the more people will realize that TV entertainment is not important at all. You know people can actually live full lives without paying a cent for it and it isn't necessary or a requirement. So seriously TV cable companies, get your crap together and deal because this may be the last thing saving you guys. Remember the news paper holdouts? Where are they now.

 

[8281]

Eddy Cue is a master something, that's for sure.

Maybe I'm being quite harsh. But boy does he rub me the wrong way.

Not a huge fan either. He just seems like a goofball, and not in a laid back, fun sort of way. More like, "this guy shouldn't be on stage trying to dance," sort of way. I think if he stopped trying to be cool, it would help.

 

[BruiserB]

Apple need to compromise, instead of having things their own way. They may have actually got a TV product out.

So.. Apple wanted unbundled content, only for themselves to bundle content back up again. The customer does not want bundled TV, they want to be able to pick and choose what they want.

I want to be able to pick what I want, but then I want to get it for a "bundled" price. In other words, I don't want to choose 15 channels at $8 a month each. I want to pick the 15 (or however many) channels I want and then have some pricing engine give me a "bundled" price for them. I'd imagine if I picked several Disney Channels, I'd get a better price for each successive channel from them. If I added ESPN there might be a bigger jump in price than if I added HSN or QVC and maybe even some of the shopping channels should "pay" me to add them to my lineup by decreasing my bundle price. I don't want to pay for channels I never watch, but at the same time, I don't want a la carte pricing to result in a bill that's just as high as cable companies charge now.

 

[bitslap47]

One thing I will say is... in my opinion TV and Ad execs wayyy over value their content. I could't tell you the last time I've seen an ad or a commercial... yet companies still pay millions (I'm told) to place ads because of supposed ROI.

I wonder what would happen if Apple bought Time Warner or Comcast and devalued all the other players out there. There would be no more secret brotherhood propping up each others' inflated valuations.
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I want to be able to pick what I want, but then I want to get it for a "bundled" price. In other words, I don't want to choose 15 channels at $8 a month each. I want to pick the 15 (or however many) channels I want and then have some pricing engine give me a "bundled" price for them. I'd imagine if I picked several Disney Channels, I'd get a better price for each successive channel from them. If I added ESPN there might be a bigger jump in price than if I added HSN or QVC and maybe even some of the shopping channels should "pay" me to add them to my lineup by decreasing my bundle price. I don't want to pay for channels I never watch, but at the same time, I don't want a la carte pricing to result in a bill that's just as high as cable companies charge now.

Also, cake and eat it too... there are 50+ sports channels. Put the sports on there... keep it off of the other channels (I know I'm going to get flamed by sports fans :-D )