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“Although only Fox and ABC have signed up to offer TV-episode rentals, other studios are likely to follow suit,” Waller reports. “Many already offer free full episodes online for days or weeks after the original air date, so moving to a paid model would be attractive. Yet the cost is low enough that consumers with selective TV-watching habits are unlikely to balk — and may even see renting their TV shows via Apple TV as a good alternative to a cable subscription and DVR.”
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John Naughton reports for The Observer, “This replaces the old Apple TV device, which was launched in 2007 and stored video purchased from the iTunes store for display on a domestic television set, but which never really caught on. ‘We’ve sold a lot of them,’ said His Steveness, ‘but it’s never been a huge hit.’ The device was, he said, ‘too complicated for average consumers.’”
“‘We think the rest of the studios will see the light and get onboard,’ he said, loftily, before adding that Netflix, the video-rental company, has also climbed ‘onboard.’ Henceforth, first-run HD movies will be available for rental for $4.99 on the same day as they are released on DVD,” Naughton reports. “Netflix executives are doubtless extolling this deal to their shareholders as a brilliant strategic move. But in fact they are being nice to the crocodile in the hope that it will eat them last.”
Naughton reports, “If the new Apple service/device proves a hit, then the movie studios will indeed get onboard the iTunes bandwagon, in which case they will begin to wonder why they need Netflix as an intermediary.”
Full article here.
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