We are not talking about cable companies here. We are talking about direct streaming to customers.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
'Showtime' Launches on Apple TV for $10.99 per Month
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
We are not talking about cable companies here. We are talking about direct streaming to customers.
Been saying this for years but the cord cutter believers just wouldn't listen. They swore network, studios and pay TV companies would take a lost so they could save money. Lol
And if they offered it cheaper, they would risk their very lucrative model with the cable companies.
This is a brilliant idea and I would love to see this happen. One thing I'd like to see in addition to this is completely cut off movies and TV shows from iTunes and branch into a completely new branded video only store. Just like how Apple moved audio books off of the iTunes Store in to the iBooks store, I think they need to do the same with movies and TV shows.
Agreed, but that number might be a bit, um, low?
http://www.fierceonlinevideo.com/st...over-850k-subscribers-analyst-says/2015-06-29
I pay monthly:
$30 for 300mbps Internet
$8 Netflix
$8 Amazon
$11 Showtime (shared w friend, I pay full rate)
$0 HBO (shared w friend, he pays full rate)
$27 for content + $30 for Internet = $57.
If there's anything else I want to see, I just wait a year for it to be put on Netflix. Not a big deal. I don't need every single content channel or provider. Cutting the cord is exactly that reducing your services to the ones you want most. Instead of receiving 200 channels I'll never watch, I have 5 content providers that I consistently watch and pay a lot less for. THIS is how the model works. If you want everything, stick to cable.
But not so cheap ($5.99 as the person I quoted suggested) it would undercut their pay TV model. Hulu gets it cheaper because Showtime is owned by CBS and already has a deal with Hulu. this offering is just a way for CBS to get people who do not have a pay TV subscription. This does not threaten cable TV.
Last edited:
That would be such a poor deal unless you watch TV nonstop. I would rather buy 100 dollars in itunes content a month which you keep forever.
Let's see a source to back up your claim that they would make more with a lower price.. I'm sure you're better at knowing the market than people who do it for a living.
Positives of a la carte TV despite not the cheapest prices per channel, are:
Flexible subscriptions*
Choose what you want to pay for at the time you're watching*
these two might not seem big, but actually they are still very good for people who want to save money.
someone like me for example, may only want HBO NOW for GoT and True Detective - thats about 5 months of subscription for the year - 75$ish for the year?
cancel after, switch to showtime (or any other channel) for whatever is airing at that time.
it won't always work out this smoothly, but following the strategy of subscribing for whats on at the time works out cheaper i think than paying a fixed price all year round and not watching every channel.
its the beginning too, prices could easily go down with more competition. thats what should happen.
Flexible subscriptions*
Choose what you want to pay for at the time you're watching*
these two might not seem big, but actually they are still very good for people who want to save money.
someone like me for example, may only want HBO NOW for GoT and True Detective - thats about 5 months of subscription for the year - 75$ish for the year?
cancel after, switch to showtime (or any other channel) for whatever is airing at that time.
it won't always work out this smoothly, but following the strategy of subscribing for whats on at the time works out cheaper i think than paying a fixed price all year round and not watching every channel.
its the beginning too, prices could easily go down with more competition. thats what should happen.
LOL they're not being greedy. They're compensating for Apple's greed. Take a look at the percentage of each subscription that Apple demands they be paid. THAT'S the greed.
Has anybody signed up for this? From the screenshot, it looks like there is a "Live TV" menu that allows you to actually stream what is currently on Showtime....is that correct? Can you just stream the main Showtime channel, or can you pick from different ones and different time zone feeds (Showtime East and Showtime West, etc)?
That seems to be a nice feature. One of my beefs with the HBO Now app is that you can't actually watch what is on HBO right now! For pre-recorded shows, they do allow it to be streamed at the same time as it comes on the air, but for shows like RealTime that are live, you can't actually watch them in "real time"....you have to wait until they release them a day or so later.
That seems to be a nice feature. One of my beefs with the HBO Now app is that you can't actually watch what is on HBO right now! For pre-recorded shows, they do allow it to be streamed at the same time as it comes on the air, but for shows like RealTime that are live, you can't actually watch them in "real time"....you have to wait until they release them a day or so later.
CBS does not show their own shows through Hulu. They are the only 1 out of Big 4 National Networks to opt out of Hulu.
Our services work out about the same way (in terms of what we use and cost), though our internet connection wasn't a factor, it is/was the same, before and after CTC'ing. Same with Amazon Prime, always had it, always will, it wasn't necessary to add it to our monthly TV costs.
Our DirecTV was ~$130/month, the boxes were slow/janky, HBO was ~$17/month, and you were locked into contracts (that they constantly tried to extend by providing "free" equipment upgrades). Our OTA for locals is beautiful (though we could never pick up NBC, so bought a season pass for Hannibal for $25).
Assuming it's like the SHOWTIME ANYWHERE app (that you authorize through your TV provider), you're correct. It's basically live streams of the current broadcast content (I believe there's 4, like East, West, Extreme, etc.)
There is no source. It's just common sense. Lower price = more customers willing to get the service. HBO won't do it because they want more customers at higher price and higher price makes their service "premium".
For starters:
1) Reduced commercials
2) No need for DVR
3) Ability to play shows on the go, on many devices
The only concern I have are ISP's with capped data limits. Cox is capped. Comcast is wide open, but they are experimenting with data caps. A few household members watching a few shows a night will eat through hundreds of gigs of data.
This. Most satellite TV and cable companies charge you fees for programming changes. With streaming, you can cancel and add it back as many times as you want without incurring any fees.
Greed? ROFL......How much money do these companies give to Apple to assist them in the costs to develop, maintain, and provide customer service for Apple's hardware, software, and ecosystem? They are freeloading off Apple's work and Apple charges them accordingly. They need Apple much more than Apple needs them.
Yup, now its going to bite them harder in the ass. And even worse, you now have 11 services to pay monthly vs 1.