Paramount+ and Showtime Bundle for Apple TV+ Subscribers Seemingly Ending

[icwhatudidthere]

From a reddit thread, it sounds like the backend system has the promo defined as a 12 month promo and everyone's now hitting that limit. I guess we'll see how it gets resolved if they do anything at all.

 

[JedWare]

Mine Expired on Jul 24th. I do have Apple TV+ still and if I try to renew nothing happens. Is it too much to ask for Apple to email us when something like this cancelation is going to happen? I remember seeing no time limit on original offer so this promotion being only a year is news to me and I read all the fine print.

 

[DblHelix]

Well. Was considering cancelling anyways since I never watch anything on either. Only signed up because of the low price.

 

[Rique]

We are Apple TV+ subscribers and, when I checked our subscription, it read as "Expired" (effective yesterday). Clicking the "renew" option button had no effect (thankfully, for when I read the fine print, it said it would renew at $20.98). Thank goodness that we watched "A Quiet Place II" on Saturday night!

We will not be renewing (not at that price)!

 

[a.jfred]

Hmmm, mine still says it is valid and will renew on August 10th

I only have the Paramount+ subscription, not the bundle. Mine shows current and will renew 20 August.

 

[name99]

If that's true, it's honestly Apple's fault for not doing a thing to advertise or promote them alongside Apple TV+. People know TV+, but anyone I've ever talked to about Channels no one ever knows what I'm talking about. They never caught on because no one knew they were even there. Apple should've done way more to address this.

Well, is it any great loss?
When I've raised the issue before, the only advantage Channels seems to provide is a single billing point (to Apple) rather than separate bills (to HBO, Viacom, etc). This is weak sauce, especially when the billing is autopay via credit card.

To me Channels looks like this basically obsolete idea from the early days of streaming technology, when no-one was quite sure how it would play out and copying the cableTV bundle seemed like one reasonable idea for what people might want. For Apple, with tvOS apps per channel now well established (and TV.app as a single front-end to all of them, if that's what you want) they seem irrelevant.

For something like Prime I guess they still have some value, especially for smaller specialized channels, insofar as Prime can provide a single tech solution for them, rather than each having to develop their own app.

Should Apple be trying to court those same tiny content providers? agggghhhh. Why? Let Apple do what they do well; they don't have to do everything, especially stuff that has zero tech content, it' just basic licensing negotiation.

 

[ke-iron]

I was grandfathered in with the lower price. They realized they were losing a lot of money so they’re cancelling peoples subscription and making them resubscribe at a higher price. If they cancel mine I’m not going to renew, at least not till my favorite shows are back in session.

 

[Rigby]

Mine also shows "expired". If they really cancel it without warning I will be p!ssed since I used it to catch up on some Showtime shows and am currently in the middle of watching "Billions".

But for now I assume it was some kind of problem with their billing system. Like others, I saw multiple pending charges of $9.99 followed by refunds on my credit card.

 

[icwhatudidthere]

Well, is it any great loss?
When I've raised the issue before, the only advantage Channels seems to provide is a single billing point (to Apple) rather than separate bills (to HBO, Viacom, etc). This is weak sauce, especially when the billing is autopay via credit card.

To me Channels looks like this basically obsolete idea from the early days of streaming technology, when no-one was quite sure how it would play out and copying the cableTV bundle seemed like one reasonable idea for what people might want. For Apple, with tvOS apps per channel now well established (and TV.app as a single front-end to all of them, if that's what you want) they seem irrelevant.

For something like Prime I guess they still have some value, especially for smaller specialized channels, insofar as Prime can provide a single tech solution for them, rather than each having to develop their own app.

Should Apple be trying to court those same tiny content providers? agggghhhh. Why? Let Apple do what they do well; they don't have to do everything, especially stuff that has zero tech content, it' just basic licensing negotiation.

There are still a few content providers who seem to prefer the channels approach. AMC+ is the biggest to come to mind, there's no separate tvOS app for it. It's convenient for all involved: content providers can sign up users without having their own app and billing infrastructure, users can watch without needing another app, Apple gets its piece of the pie.

Personally, it's convenient for me: everyone in my Apple family gets access without needing to share credentials, I don't have to worry about simultaneous usage limits, I don't have to setup a new app on every device, and I get content access even on devices that don't have dedicated apps.

 

[Localcelebrity]

Calling this now: The "Channels" feature, as we know it, is going away.

 

[contacos]

My Subscription has been expired since June but I am able to play all content from Paramount+. I noticed it a few days ago and have been wondering what’s going on. I’m definitely not being charged.

same here. I have never even added a payment method. I tried to sign up with my foreign credit card initially and it wouldn’t let me so I just closed the page in the middle of the registration process. Next time I opened the App on my phone, I was signed in and able to play everything without ads. It also shows me as subscribed to „essential“ but no ads and no charges. No complains haha

 

[alchemistmuffin]

Calling this now: The "Channels" feature, as we know it, is going away.

And it will be soon. Rumor from my close source says Channels feature will be phased out completely, potentially by iOS 15, in favor of promoting the apps on the Apple TV apps instead.

Channels feature never caught with users and the streaming services. Apple even tried courting Disney to have Disney+ and Hulu available as Channel but they decided to just go with linking the app to TV App instead. And with HBO opting to go stand alone instead of having HBO max available as channel, and potentially Viacom soon pulling Paramount+ AND Showtime off channels in near future, that just put final nail in coffin for Channels feature and Apple is likely going to pull the plug soon.

 

[Rigby]

And it will be soon. Rumor from my close source says Channels feature will be phased out completely, potentially by iOS 15, in favor of promoting the apps on the Apple TV apps instead.

I hope not. They currently have 30+ channels, and for the smaller ones it's easier to simply subscribe to a channel than making a new account, adding a credit card, installing an app etc. Not to mention that many of the apps just suck (e.g. until recently the Paramount+ app didn't even have a watch list, some have non-standard controls, inferior image quality etc.).

 

[jgreg728]

Well, is it any great loss?
When I've raised the issue before, the only advantage Channels seems to provide is a single billing point (to Apple) rather than separate bills (to HBO, Viacom, etc). This is weak sauce, especially when the billing is autopay via credit card.

To me Channels looks like this basically obsolete idea from the early days of streaming technology, when no-one was quite sure how it would play out and copying the cableTV bundle seemed like one reasonable idea for what people might want. For Apple, with tvOS apps per channel now well established (and TV.app as a single front-end to all of them, if that's what you want) they seem irrelevant.

For something like Prime I guess they still have some value, especially for smaller specialized channels, insofar as Prime can provide a single tech solution for them, rather than each having to develop their own app.

Should Apple be trying to court those same tiny content providers? agggghhhh. Why? Let Apple do what they do well; they don't have to do everything, especially stuff that has zero tech content, it' just basic licensing negotiation.

Honestly I think it would be a pretty disappointing loss. Right now the streaming space is heavily fragmented and chaotic in terms of UI and experience. For people looking to cord cut through these services the changes in UI and remote functions from app to app alone makes the Apple channels approach much more attractive. What you get out of Apple TV+ is what you also get out of AMC+, Paramount+, Epix, Cinemax, etc. For tvOS the benefits are plenty:

- Picture in Picture mode (technically other apps can do this but choose not to bother)
- A constant UI across all channels
- Constant functions across all channels (i.e. how to access things like settings, info, etc)
- Live channel feeds (AMC+ is great for this)
- Siri Remore 2021 jog feature (again apps can implement this but tend not to)
- Ability to see full info description while watching content
- Higher bitrate than any other app besides maybe Disney+
- Loading times are much quicker (especially given you skip the step of jumping to another app and waiting for it to be load itself)
- Yes, billing just through Apple is convenient (especially if you use Apple Card) enough to warrant it as a significant feature.

The main point here is, the end goal is to have streaming reliably replace cable as a major television viewing option. But there needs to be a standard for UI, function, and yes, even billing. We got that standard with cable, and something like Apple TV Channels was designed to be the cord cutting answer to that, but Apple never gave the service enough of an advertising push like it did with TV+. And it's disappointing to see it go down slowly as a result.

 

[icwhatudidthere]

I hope not. They currently have 30+ channels, and for the smaller ones it's easier to simply subscribe to a channel than making a new account, adding a credit card, installing an app etc. Not to mention that many of the apps just suck (e.g. until recently the Paramount+ app didn't even have a watch list, some have non-standard controls, inferior image quality etc.).

Yeah, that's gonna suck. I've got a few subscriptions through Channels and I'd basically have to resub through Amazon instead. The Apple TV app would basically become Apple TV+ app and I'd stop using it for anything else at that point.

 

[iSRS]

Yeah, that's gonna suck. I've got a few subscriptions through Channels and I'd basically have to resub through Amazon instead. The Apple TV app would basically become Apple TV+ app and I'd stop using it for anything else at that point.

Apple TV app is far more that just the Apple TV Content even without the channels. It is my one stop shop. I honestly rarely watch Netflix because it doesn’t integrate into the ”Watch Now/Up Next” function that is synced across my iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and Apple TVs

 

[icwhatudidthere]

Apple TV app is far more that just the Apple TV Content even without the channels. It is my one stop shop. I honestly rarely watch Netflix because it doesn’t integrate into the ”Watch Now/Up Next” function that is synced across my iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and Apple TVs

I typically only use it for channels I've subscribed to through Apple. I've found it doesn't sync properly when I watch something on my Mac through a website (say Hulu for example) and then try to pick it back up on my Apple TV.

 

[iSRS]

I typically only use it for channels I've subscribed to through Apple. I've found it doesn't sync properly when I watch something on my Mac through a website (say Hulu for example) and then try to pick it back up on my Apple TV.

Yes, that is the one downside. Same if I watch Hulu on my FireTV

 

[LestâtMayfair]

I had the same issue, charge then refund on yesterday morning 7/25/21, my monthly renewal date. It seems it was definitely an error, as this morning I was charged again properly and will renew again on 8/25/21, see image.

 

[topdownjimmy]

I just tried to renew from the list of my expired subscriptions, and the renew was successful. I had tried this same thing last night with no luck. I now have access to Showtime and Paramount+ (though the Paramount+ access is also due to my having re-subscribed to just Paramount+ last night.)

It looks like this may have just been an error?

 

[icwhatudidthere]

I just tried to renew from the list of my expired subscriptions, and the renew was successful. I had tried this same thing last night with no luck. I now have access to Showtime and Paramount+ (though the Paramount+ access is also due to my having re-subscribed to just Paramount+ last night.)

It looks like this may have just been an error?

Thanks for the heads up. Just worked for me now too.

 

[mrj412]

I just tried to renew from the list of my expired subscriptions, and the renew was successful. I had tried this same thing last night with no luck. I now have access to Showtime and Paramount+ (though the Paramount+ access is also due to my having re-subscribed to just Paramount+ last night.)

It looks like this may have just been an error?

I just tried again as well and confirm that it is working today and allowed me to renew/buy the subscription again at the same $9.99 price. It was not working yesterday.

 

[iSRS]

I had the same issue, charge then refund on yesterday morning 7/25/21, my monthly renewal date. It seems it was definitely an error, as this morning I was charged again properly and will renew again on 8/25/21, see image.

I was just able to successfully renew, complete with the “you’ve previously subscribed, click Buy”

My date remains the 24th

 

[AgentOSX]

UPDATE.

The wording on the subscription page changed. It now says if you are an AppleTV+ subscriber you get Paramount+ and Showtime for 9.99. If you drop AppleTV+, the bundle is $20.98.

 

[Rigby]

UPDATE.

The wording on the subscription page changed. It now says if you are an AppleTV+ subscriber you get Paramount+ and Showtime for 9.99. If you drop AppleTV+, the bundle is $20.98.

That was always the case with this bundle.

Anyway, I was also just now able to resume my subscription.