iTMS Monthly TV Show Subscriptions

[balamw]

This isn't a "subscription." It's just standard a pre-order. You can pre-order certain albums on iTunes and have them download when they're available.

It's a bit different than the album pre-order, since the 16 episodes you pre-bought will be downloaded automatically over 16 different days, but also that the subscription/pre-buy gives you a significant discount, which is not the case for the album pre-order.

Note also that iTMS gift cards are another existing form of pre-buying on iTMS that also does not come with any discount associated with it.

B

 

[bit density]

Fifth Element?!?

All the way to page 4 and not a single reference to "The Fifth Element?"

MULTI-PASS

 

[nagromme]

For LONG-TERM ownership, I want DVDs. Full quality, and special features.

For the occasional missed episode of a show you won't necessarily re-watch a lot, $1.99 is fine.

But if they can get Galactica down to under $1 an episode via bulk discounts, I'm there. I might even buy Lost. Give me a couple key shows and it no longer makes sense for me to pay big bucks for cable. I'd cancel my cable bill, accept some quality loss (but not much on my old TV ), and save money! With no ads (This assumes I can can get decent broadband without being forced to pay for cable TV--which is not a given.)

Bulk discounting seems like a good take on the subscription concept. I hope it spreads to other (all?) iTunes shows.

It's also good for the show's creators: it encourages you to try more than just one episode.

I hope quality improves as bandwidth gets cheap, but meanwhile, dropping the price makes the lower quality OK--and bulk discounts might cross that line. We'll have to see what other shows cost, though.

Instead of cable I'd happily pay $20 for a season of a good show like Galactica, for the privilege of watching immediately: BEFORE the DVD exists.

 

[echeck]

This isn't a "subscription."

How is it not a subscription? You're subscribing to the TV Show. This is a true subcription model, other services like Yahoo and Napster are rental outlets, not subscriptions.

 

[gunm]

How is it not a subscription? You're subscribing to the TV Show. This is a true subcription model, other services like Yahoo and Napster are rental outlets, not subscriptions.

Good distinction. Another good analogy from this thread was with magazines--you pay a discounted "bulk" rate for so many issues (in this case videos) over a period of time.

 

[amacgenius]

iTunes could hit an audience here, there a lot of people who watch Comedy Central and I really like the discount for the month than each episode separate.

 

[dcranston]

To those who are complaining this is too expensive, I don't know how much TV you watch every day, but iTMS is rapidly becoming a fantastic replacement for cable for me... For me personally, here are my TV watching habits:

- Daily Show (4x/week)
- Colbert Report (sometimes)
- The Office (1/episode)
- Monk (1/episode)
- Seinfeld (occasionally)
- Futurama (occasionally)
- Family Guy (1/episode)

Not all of these shows are available on iTMS, but it's getting close. Let's say I subscribe to the Daily Show on iTMS ($10/month). I download each episode of The Office (MAX 4/month for $6). Same for Monk ($6). Sure, let's throw in the subscription of Colbert Report even though I don't watch it daily ($10). And if we got those other three shows on iTMS, I watch maybe 1 Seinfeld/wk ($8), 1 Futurama/month ($2), 2 Family Guys/month ($4).

That's already $46, $10 less than I pay for basic Comcast cable.

Assuming Apple continues the trend of offering passes (perhaps for a season of a show?) at discounted rates, this price will rapidly drop to considerably less than cable. Kinda makes you think, huh?

 

[~Shard~]

That's already $46, $10 less than I pay for basic Comcast cable.

Your cable bill is $56/month for basic cable?!? Wow, I pay $70 CAD/month for all-digital cable (basic + 2 tiers = ~70 channels), a 3 Mbps DSL connection, effectively unlimited long distance throughout N. America, as well as my land line. I knew I had it good, but not that good...

 

[paulohm]

Reruns? and I'm canceling my cable subscription!

Maybe I missed it in one of the press releases, but what happens when TDS or Colbert airs a rerun? It obviously should not count against the "16 prepaid" episodes, so does iTunes skip that day and extend your "subscription" by one?

I may cancel my digital cable subscription because of this! We watch as much TV as the next person, but the only cable shows we regularly watch are: TDS, Colbert, and CNN whenever something newsworthy is occurring. My cable company offers a basic package -- the Networks, CSPAN, and a couple other channels (Discovery, TBS, Bravo...) -- for $33/month less than my current plan. I think I'm going to take that $33, send $20 of it to Apple, and basically have the same setup I have now.

Needless to say, I'm pretty excited about this.

 

[nebben123]

Pretty sure that'd be $20 for 32 shows... maybe my math is wrong.

I never said it would be anything less. I said it was $20 for two shows for a month. The two shows being TDS and TCR, for a month (ie. 32 episodes total).

 

[neutrino23]

From the email I got after purchasing my Multi-Pass:
"Note: Reruns, episodes that have previously been aired and made available for download, will not be resent." So there.

The download was really fast, about four minutes flat for a 102MB file. That was great. I rarely see downloads that fast.

I don't have cable and I'm not interested in other shows than TDS so this is a much cheaper option for me. The video quality is not bad but I do wish it was a tad better.

 

[yg17]

This is a pretty good deal, but I think I'll pass for now.

I wish they would add Real Time w/ Bill Maher and add the multipass...I'd subscribe in a second. I love that show, but don't have HBO down here at college so I only see it a couple times a month when I go home (Where we have digital cable with eleventy billion channels)

 

[TEG]

I already have this... It is called "Season Pass®", it comes standard on a TiVo™.

TEG

 

[kpanda]

Cool! I hope we will be able to buy videos in Europe soon.

So do I. That would be bigger news than anything else Apple could announce right now. As it is we are stuck with iTunes Lite: Half the music, more expensive, and no video content whatsoever. And in Sweden we don't even get a free song every month....

 

[MacQuest]

Apple could be the next "Nielsen" rating system!

In the cases of Battlestar Galactica and Conviction, I think it helped. I certainly would not have seen the Conviction pilot had it not been offered the way it was.

The first thing I thought when I saw that Apple's Multi-Pass was a pre-pay/"true" subscription model that allows you to own content, rather than one that ties you into a continuous "membership" fee in order to only rent content [ala Napster, Real, etc.] was:

"This is a great way for television networks to gauge initial viewer interest for their shows and also adjust accordingly based on the viewer "response" [in the form of individual episode purchases/Multi-Pass renewals in this case]."

Most interesting to me is the ability for the networks to gauge the per episode purchases vs. the Multi-Pass subscription purchases which may indicate whether a show is on it's way up or down in popularity and therefore ratings.

Viewer scenario's like these is what I'm envisioning that the networks would be keeping close tabs on:

Scenario A:
1 - pilot episode is purchased [or downloaded if free. This can be gauged as well]
2 - individual episodes are purchased [or if the pilot is really good, skip #2 and go straight to #3]
3 - Multi-Pass subscriptions renewed regularly

Conclusion: WE GOT A HIT!

Scenario B:
1 - pilot episode is purchased [or downloaded if free. This can be gauged as well]
2 - no [or very few] individual episodes are purchased

Conclusion: CANCEL!

Scenario C:
1 - pilot episode is purchased [or downloaded if free. This can be gauged as well]
2 - individual episodes are purchased [or if the pilot is really good, skip #2 and go straight to #3]
3 - Multi-Pass subscriptions renewed
4- significant decrease in Multi-Pass renewals back down to individual episode purchases* or no purchases**

Conclusion: FEW HIT WONDER!
Either:
* MAKE IT BETTER!
** CANCEL!

As far as the [hopefully upcoming] iMovie Video Store, I still want Apple to have a combination service:
- $9.99 pay to own
- $19.99 monthly unlimited rental [limited time or limited views] with a $4.99 pay to own option for previously rented movies.

NOW GIMME MY vPOD [iPOD AV... whatever ] and/or MacPOD [pda/tablet hybrid] APPLE!!!

 

[camphorsunrise]

All the way to page 4 and not a single reference to "The Fifth Element?"

MULTI-PASS

haha no kidding, that's the first thing I thought of.

 

[ahasver]

Juppieee

Yes I can watch Daily Show!!!
Thanks to this I can now watch the show even though I don't live in the us anymore. This is the best!!!!
Sure it is not cheep but it's worth it

 

[MacQuest]

I wonder what their profits are, and what or if this is doing to their profit margin.

SJ has always said that the iTunes Music Store was not a profit maker and that it's primary purpose was to sell iPods [and now apparently whatever other playback devices may be released].

I would imagine the same will be true with the iMovie Video Store[?]*. It will exist to sell the new vPod [iPod AV] and any other future playback devices.

*I hope Apple makes a storefront application like "iLife Store" and makes sub-sections for iTunes [music], iMovie [preview/rented content maybe at lower non DVD/HD resolutions to encourage purchases], iDVD [purchased content at full/higher DVD/HD resolutions intended for master burn], iPhoto [stock photography, etc.], GarageBand [original songs, beats, lyrics, etc.], iWeb [webpage templates, animations, etc.]... you get the idea.

Of course you'll also be able to purchase and download iLife '07, '08, '09, etc. from the "iLife Store" as well.

 

[MacQuest]

...that's why God made Netflix.

I believe Apple will develop a better service with more flexibility and options [both tangible and intangible].

It's just a matter of time before you start seeing Apple Logo envelopes being delivered all over the place.

Think of the increased visibility and the service/product cross marketing potential for Apple!

I guess the subscription is ok as long as you get to own the material. That means this is pretty much the same as buying an album instead of buying it track by track, which is much more expensive in most cases.

So thumbs up for this news, if it's true.

This is not a rumor.

Just out of curiosity and assuming that the store around the corner is a legitimate store and not someone bootlegging movies

BINGO!

So you could you get Deadwood Season 1, Sopranos Season 5 and Entourage Season 1 for $20? What's the name of the place?

The name of the person is Shady Sean. He's wearing a black trenchcoat and has a magical shopping cart filled with "goods".

 

[MacQuest]

For me anyway, this Multi-Pass option is pretty lame.

I don't understand the obsession with owning TV shows.

Nobody's making anyone buy any shows that they don't want.

Those Napster, Real, etc. "never-ending membership contracts" are making people pay to not lose the content they've downloaded and kept [I'm not talking about the junk that they dl'ed and didn't like and got rid of] and that they obviously liked because they kept it.

I don't like having a "gun" held to my head reminding me that if I don't pay up every month, that I'm gonna lose the content that I like.

I don't understand why anyone would want to rent something that they'll want to watch/listen to later on when they can own it for a comparable or even lower price.

Maybe not next week, or even next month, but if they liked it enough at one point to buy it, then they'll watch/listen to it again and get they're money's worth.

Losing content that you've payed to watch or listen to, just because you don't want to be tied into a never-ending monthly "membership" contract?

THAT doesn't make sense to me.

 

[MacQuest]

Why shouldn't this be referred to as a subscription. When I subscribe to a magazine I don't have to send all the issues back if I cancel. This is more like a subscription model than Napster is.

That's what pretty much everyone is saying in this thread.

It's the other services that aren't "true" subscriptions. They're more like memberships. Never-ending membership contracts to not lose the content you never did, or will own.

What a privilage.

 

[MacQuest]

This is dumb. $20 for two shows for a month? Expensive.

Pretty sure that'd be $20 for 32 shows... maybe my math is wrong.

WHOOSH!!!

Right over your head, "JonHimself"!!!

"Nebben123" meant 2 shows as in:
1 = "The Daily Show"
2 = "The Colbert Report"

NOT 2 shows as in:
1 episode of each one of those 2 shows.

Yes, the Multi-Pass is offering 16 episodes of each one of those 2 shows which would equal a total of 32... episodes... of those 2 ... shows.

... maybe my math is wrong.

CLASSIC!!!

HINT:
It's not your math that's wrong. It's the wrong context in which you interpreted Nebben123's post.

And on that humorous note [seriously, I can't stop laughing right now], I shall retire for the evening.

Good night, and good luck.

- MacQuest

 

[bigandy]

i somewhat like this idea, especially as you're still getting to keep the stuff you pay for.

 

[SilentPanda]

Well... I purchased the multi-pass to the Daily Show. It's one of the shows that I haven't found a good way for my DVR to record (both Tivo and my cable DVR) since a "new" episode is any episode not flagged as a repeat it seems. Also I like to try stuff out and spend money...

Anyway Wednesday I got my first digital episode of the Daily Show. It was Tuesday night's episode. This morning (Thursday) around 8:30am CST Wednesday nights episode was available. The e-mail said to sign in to iTunes to get it... but I was already signed in. The only ways I know of to get new episodes are to either sign out and back in (sorta stupid) or to "Check for Purchases..." from the menu.

What I dislike about the service is it automatically downloads it when it checks. Typically I am at work in the morning when new Daily Shows will be released and I use iTunes here. I might have to disable the music store since I don't want to download the videos here at work. I sorta wish it appeared like podcasts do and new ones would appear and then you could click "Get" once when you were ready...

 

[dcranston]

Your cable bill is $56/month for basic cable?!? Wow, I pay $70 CAD/month for all-digital cable (basic + 2 tiers = ~70 channels), a 3 Mbps DSL connection, effectively unlimited long distance throughout N. America, as well as my land line. I knew I had it good, but not that good...

Agreed, American cable prices are out of control... I pay another $40 on top of that for my cable internet..ugh! When our area recently increased rates (again), they interviewed folks locally who weren't well off saying how bad this was because their monthly bill for cable was well over $100 and they couldn't afford that as it was hard enough keeping enough money to put food on the table. (Now, granted, that seems to indicate that many people's priorities are incorrect--if you literally have no disposable income, spending that on a premium cable package and having that a life 'necessity' sort of boggles my mind...Is our culture that intertwined with entertainment?)