HBO and Apple today announced that programming from HBO is now available for purchase and download on the iTunes Store. New HBO programs on iTunes include the Emmy Award-winning programs “The Sopranos,” “Sex and the City,” “Deadwood” and “Rome,” as well as the critically acclaimed hits “Flight of the Conchords” and “The Wire.” The iTunes Store is the world’s most popular online TV store with over 150 million episodes sold and features the world’s largest catalog with over 800 shows (over 20,000 episodes).
“We’re very excited to make these legendary HBO programs available on the iTunes Store,” said Henry McGee, president of HBO Video, in the press release. “Whether catching up on ‘Sex and the City’ in anticipation of its upcoming movie release or reliving a favorite ‘Sopranos’ episode, we think viewers will love being able to watch these shows on their iPod or iPhone.”
“We’re thrilled to bring this incredible lineup of programming from HBO to the iTunes Store,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes, in the press release. “These are some of the most talked about television shows ever, as well as some of the most requested by our customers.”
“Sex and the City: The Movie” premieres in theaters on May 30, and in preparation for the movie’s debut, fans can choose any or all 94 episodes from the entire six seasons of the program.
Television shows purchased and downloaded from the iTunes Store can be viewed on a Mac or PC, iPod nano with video, iPod classic, iPod touch, fifth generation iPod, iPhone or on a widescreen TV with Apple TV. “Sex and the City,” “The Wire” and “Flight of the Conchords” are $1.99 per episode, and “The Sopranos,” “Deadwood” and “Rome” are priced at $2.99 per episode. iTunes customers can also choose to purchase entire seasons of their favorite programs.
iTunes 7.6.2 for Mac and Windows includes the iTunes Store and is available as a free download via iTunes.com/. Purchase and download of songs and videos from the iTunes Store requires a valid credit card from a financial institution in the country of purchase. Television shows are available in the US, UK, Canada and Germany, and video availability varies by country.
Home Box Office, Inc. is the premium television programming subsidiary of Time Warner Inc., providing two 24-hour pay television services — HBO and Cinemax — to over 40 million U.S. subscribers. The services offer the most popular subscription video on demand products, HBO On Demand and Cinemax On Demand, as well as HBO on Broadband, HD feeds, and multiplex channels. Internationally, HBO’s branded television networks, along with the subscription video on demand products HBO On Demand and HBO Mobile, bring HBO services to over 50 countries. HBO programming is sold into over 150 countries worldwide.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Ampersand” for the heads up.]
Huge thanks for The Wire!
Its a start, but I want to see
“subscription video on demand products HBO On Demand”
Will variable priced TV shows now open the floodgates for variable priced music?
Floodgates or not, I’m not buying a episode for a penny more than $1.99.
It’s a shame there is only season 1 of The Wire. Why so?
And actually – I’d really prefer renting TV shows, not buying them…
YAY ROME!!!!!!!!!!
I’ve been wanting this for a couple of years! I’m not jumping in to this yet until I can determine that downloading shows on iTunes is actually cheaper than subscribing to HBO. I canceled HBO about a year ago. I was able to get HBO on Demand. Hopefully, iTunes will be cheaper or equivalent.
The Wire = best show on TV (seriously, its THAT good!)
$2.99? Egads!
Variable pricing! Oh, that is so confusing, as we have read so many times on MDN.
If Steve were still in charge, this would never had happened.
My only hope is that 99 Cent Store chain and Apple will merge, finally. Then we, the customers, can continue making purchase decisions based on quality only, without the need of bringing the confusing aspect of price into the equation.
@ HMCIV
I’m with you. I’m not paying tree bucks for no Sopranos.
@Anders
Steve’s not in charge? Is Gil Amelio back? I hadn’t heard.
I suspect they’ll be $1.99 quick enough if people don’t buy ’em.
Come on, make the shows available for rent. I don’t want to own television shows, especially when I can’t make DVD from them.
There should definitely be a TV show rental option…. All these TV shows I download to watch once is just a giant waste of space. Then I end up trashing something I paid full price for just to make room.
And what about Entourage, Big Love, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Extras, Six Feet Under, Ali G, Oz, etc. etc.?
Ummm…. Rome? If no one watched it when it aired, no one is going to watch it on iTunes…
Now I have to “shop” other programs to make the best purchase. I have a budget as to what I spend each Tuesday, this cuts my purchasing power severely. I’m just not seeing the incentive to pay more.
Feels like a late April Fool’s Day joke.
Alex – I suspect they’ll be $1.99 quick enough if people don’t buy ’em.
I’m all for that. My pain threshold was already reached at $1.99.
NEVER paying more than $1.99
I just checked out the store and cannot believe that they are selling $3/episode. That is just sick.
This sucks — it’s only Season One of The Wire? I want Season 5, not Season One.
I have noticed in the iTunes store that they are removing reviews of HBO shows that criticize the price of the $2.99 shows. I wrote one of the first reviews and mine, along with the others, which were the majority, have been removed.