iTunes Chief Eddy Cue: Apple Execs Don't Make Notes on Apple TV+ Scripts

[Geronimo]

I see streamers opting in these kinds of streaming aggregators in the future. With the advent of all the new services later this year and beyond, streamers will have to return to the bundling method and will take a price cut to ensure they are included. Maybe HBO still charges a premium, but if you look at the list of channels, many of them can be bundled. See Acorn, PBS, Tastemade, MTV, DC Universe, Sundance, Epix, Smithsonian, Lifetime Movie Club, UMC etc., etc.,

I agree that there will continue to be some "long tail" niche services that aren't part of a huge media group and therefore can't or won't run their own apps and instead must rely on aggregation platforms such as Apple TV Channels and Amazon Prime Video Channels for distribution.

But some of those niche services that you mention will end up belonging to a major player and getting subsumed into their main direct-to-consumer service with its own app. For instance, the upcoming HBO Max service, which is going to be WarnerMedia's BIG service that goes head-to-head against Netflix and Hulu, will contain all those new originals from DC Universe (which itself may just shut down). Viacom's mini-services like NickHits and MTV Hits will probably just get sucked into CBS All Access after CBS acquires Viacom. Sundance is part of AMC Networks (along with BBCAmerica and IFC) and that little company is RIPE for acquisition by someone. (CBS? NBCUniversal?)

 

[Geronimo]

I’ll agree content providers want you in their app and not Apples/Roku/Firestick but that means you either provide an app for those devices or you release hardware yourself. Producing shows, developing an app AND making and selling hardware is a lot of overhead for very little gain. Make the shows and maybe the app -maybe not if you are a smaller provider- and let someone else handle the low profit margin hardware end.

The major media companies don't need to create/own their own streaming hardware, they just have to create and update their own app to run across other companies' hardware. So, for instance, WarnerMedia won't need to come out with their own new streaming TV stick, they'll just need to create the HBO Max app for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV, iOS, Android, LG smart TV, Sony smart TV, Android TV, and maybe PS4 and XBox One.

I agree that it IS a lot of work to maintain a quality app on all those platforms, which is why there will likely be some small niche services that don't bother (or don't do it well) and mainly just rely on sales inside the Apple TV app, the Prime Video app, and the Roku Channel app, with their content blended into those UIs.

Here are the services that I ultimately see insisting on access through their own apps/UIs, with streams originating from their own servers:

Netflix
Hulu
Disney+
ESPN
HBO Max
CBS All Access (or whatever it might get renamed to after it expands with content from Viacom and maybe others)
Showtime (maybe? but, if so, only after it has swallowed Starz)
Apple TV+
YouTube
NBCUniveral SVOD (probably. This hasn't debuted yet; it's coming in 2020.)

All other subscription services that don't end up being owned by one of the above services and subsumed into them will probably be available as add-on "channels" through some or all of the apps above. So imagine if Crown Media doesn't sell their suite of Hallmark channels and their associated content to a major player, it's easy to see a Hallmark service with all of their current and past content on-demand sold inside the Apple TV, Prime Video, Roku Channel, Hulu, and HBO Max apps as add-ons to their main bodies of content.

 

[Geronimo]

I think it would make way more sense for Apple to purchase only the subsidiary Sony Pictures, rather than Sony in its entirety. A lot less expensive, and you avoid the massive DOJ antitrust issues with the hardware technology overlap between Sony and Apple. Apple has no use for Sony beyond its film/tv studio division, and Sony might not have as strong an interest over its Sony Pictures sub.

Yes, I could see that happening too, just buying Sony Pictures. But I would argue that Sony Music, as a major music label, might have some real benefits for Apple Music. New music from those artists could debut exclusively on Apple Music before coming to Spotify a week or two later, for instance.