“Fox television is taking a more cautious approach than rival networks in making its most popular TV shows available for new distribution outlets like video-on-demand and digital downloads, a top executive said on Tuesday,” Sue Zeidler reports for Reuters. “‘It’s been our strategy not to try to go out first with announcements but to go out with our best strategy. We’re taking a more measured approach to what works and would not work,’ Fox Entertainment President Peter Liguori said during a presentation to TV critics in Pasadena.”
“Walt Disney Co.’s ABC made a splash late last year when it began offering commercial-free Internet downloads of its biggest hits, ‘Lost’ and ‘Desperate Housewives,’ for $1.99 apiece from Apple Computer Inc.’s iTunes music store,” Zeidler reports. “NBC has since added some of its shows to iTunes’ television inventory.”
“‘There are so many different cable outlets, a really fertile Internet, the ability to get information on wireless,’ Liguori said. ”24′ is a great show for all those various options, but again, my job is to protect ’24,’ not to worry about what at this point is really a pretty meager audience’ for video on demand or video iPods,” Zeidler reports. “Asked whether he thought Disney jumped the gun on its deal with Apple’s iTunes, Liguori said he was ‘neutral on what they’ve done. I think it was a very sexy announcement. But is it necessarily helping the show at this point? I don’t know. None of us know at this stage. None of us know what those numbers are,’ he said.”
Full article here.
Fox should read the news. NBC and ABC shows featured on Apple’s iTunes Music Store are showing marked broadcast ratings increases. Excellent shows that failed to catch on, like NBC’s “The Office” for example, are now top sellers on iTunes and have found an audience on NBC’s broadcasting network. The only thing Fox’s Liguori is “protecting” his shows from by not offering them on iTunes are broadcast ratings increases. Two words for Liquori: “Arrested Development.”
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Related article:
NBC: Apple’s iTunes, iPod powering broadcast ratings for ‘The Office’ – January 17, 2006
Correction:
Lost, as you know is on ABC. I forgot that several networks have picked up on this “digital media” thing. Sorries.
I put off watching episodes 3 and 4 – Season 5 of 24 until I downloaded episodes 1 and 2 via torrent sites. I usually record them on my DVR but had been on vacation. I first checked iTunes and would have willingly paid $2 to catch up…
Had it not been for the torrents I would have held off on this season of 24 – even up to the point of DVD.
Fox is making a mistake!!!
With DVR I fast forward past the commercials… So what’s the hold up Fox – your advertisers aren’t getting views anyway. Except Apple… I stopped fast forwarding to watch the intel iMac spot. As if 24 isn’t enough… David Palmer uses an iMac.
Follow the money. Fox owned by Rupert Murdoch. DirectTV owned by Rupert Murdoch. DirectTV has its own strategy for video-on-demand. So, does anyone really expect Fox to help Apple’s iTMS? It’s like why doesn’t CBS sign a deal? Anyone heard of Viacom and their other property MTV? And, MTV has a deal with whom?
Maybe Fox were going to announce somethng at MacWorld with the introduction of the 50″ plasma MacPotato until the bubble ‘Burst’ (pun intended).
Does anyone else agree that a MacPotato (living room Mac with streaming video) would make a great games machine? I would seriously consider cancelling my cable if Apple provided within the .Mac subscription some delayed free-to-air shows, pay-per-use movies, pay-to-own movies and game demos on line. This is in addition to the current DVDs & music videos I can watch and songs I can listen to.
I seriously cannot think of anything else I would need once it’s plugged into my speakers. Even my HiFi has become redundant since it’s all on my iPod. Now get iChat going on it and it’ll look like an episide of the Jetsons.
Bring on the MacPotato!!!
“Follow the money. Fox owned by Rupert Murdoch. DirectTV owned by Rupert Murdoch. DirectTV has its own strategy for video-on-demand. So, does anyone really expect Fox to help Apple’s iTMS? It’s like why doesn’t CBS sign a deal? Anyone heard of Viacom and their other property MTV? And, MTV has a deal with whom?”
totally agree, totally agree.
If FOX thnks I’m going to get a Direct TV system just to watch thier content they are crazy.
I pay $50 a month for cableTV I don’t watch because it’s too dumb and the commercials brainwash you.
I don’t want to wait until 6 PM to get my news when the internet is so much faster and more intelligent.
I download shows from iTMS that I want to see, when I want to see them anytime I want to see them. Unlike cable where they give a limited selection.
The only reason I even have cable is because I get my broadband that way, if Apple would finally wake the fsck up and set up a DSL service with .Mac for $30 a month they would be rolling in new subscibers.
But no, they make you hunt for a expensive and un-user, un-Mac friendly, PC centric, market share egotistical, butt fisting bunch of Microsoft boot licking slobs to insult your superior product.
MDN Word: “I came I saw, It was good, I fell asleep.
Well interesting that people mention CBS, Viacom and its ‘mystery’ partner because Mr Murdoch is, and always has been in Microsoft’s pocket too… damn now I have let it out of the bag. Tenticles do indeed spread thick and wide in this business and usually smell of doggy do’s.
I suppose thats what you get giving a dodgy Aussie American citizenship. What with him and Mel Gibson you haven’t had much luck in that direction I guess. I should stick to the Welsh and Anthony Hopkins, seems harmless enough and actually can act as a bonus.
Certainly over here Sky is making big moves to incorporate downloads and even home media networks to expand upon their sattelite base, so I dare say it is a test for the big time over there.
spyinthesky:
As much as I hate Mel Gibson, he’s an American. He was born in New York and moved to Austrailia as a kid.
The only video I have downloaded is the highlights from the Rose Bowl. You are just plain stupid to download shows like SNL when you can get the DVD for the same price. And individual skits are running $1.99. Some of these skits are less than a minute long. Thats totally nuts! I can understand how you might want to download a single episode because you missed it, but buying a whole series is just dumb. Too expensive and too low a resolution and encumbered with DRM.
No thanks. I’ll wait for Arrested Development to come out on DVD.
Yep, there’s no DRM on that DVD. Oh wait, it’s just easier to break illegally, right?
SAVE OUR BLUTHS!
You watch TV?
You CARE about TV?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
Nobody’s breaking DRM on a DVD. But the resolution is 720×480 instead of 320×240. That enough makes the DVD worth purchasing instead the iTunes version. And the courts still say I have fair use rights to my purchased DVD’s, regardless of what Hollywood says. So, yeah, I can legally copy the DVD to my hard drive if I so desire.
SIMPSONS! SIMPSONS! SIMPSONS! U S A! U S A! IN YOUR FACE!
mmmmmmmmmm the entire Simpsons Library on iTunes aghlglalflhllhflg
Stop your whining and hate-filled posturing and appreciate that you might actually not have the answers to everything.
Fox is perfectly at liberty to distribute their shows any way they like and much as I enjoy downloading Lost and Battlestar Galactica, their TV viewing figures for each show will still dwarf the iTunes downloads. Consequently they are waiting to see which business models /distribution channels make most sense before getting onboard.
Apple did the same with the mp3 player market. They weren’t first on the scene, they came in over 3 years later, having first worked out what they thought the best business model might be. I think they did okay by waiting.
fox, though i hate the network, actually produces some (aka very few) excellent shows.
1) arrested development
2)24
4) the simpsons
5) family guy
6)house
7) [hate to say it, but…] the oc
arrested development has to be the funniest show on television right now, hands down. i think itunes would be great for it, if sales for it were good, maybe fox would re-consider their terrible mistake of cancelling the show. itunes also needs to focus on one of its main markets: teens. it has already made a good decision on offering laguna beach up for download, now the oc, family guy, and greys anatomy should come next.
could someone please tell me what the fuck is ‘highschool musical’? thanks.
Honestly, if Arrested Development (funniest comedy I’ve ever seen) and House were offered on iTMS–I would be shouting in free speech area at my University…the downloads!!!! OMG! THE DOWNLOADS!!!