“Arash Amel, research director of digital media at research company Screen Digest, said even if this offering comes to fruition, users will continue to go to Hulu and Netflix for online TV,” Perna reports. “‘The reality is the market for consumer-based internet TV is either subscription,’ as with cable channels, ‘or free [advertising-supported]. TV show rentals for 99 cents against streaming Netflix or free Hulu services is not viable. We don’t have high hopes for it at all,’ Amel said.”
“Amel said renting model has failed in the past — Apple failed to convince studios to slash rates for their content ahead of the iPad launch, and they didn’t manage to create a subscription-based service for iTunes, though it has been rumored for years,” Perna reports. “Despite the sway of the iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch, Amel said there is no reason for the situation to change. ‘The model they are employing doesn’t fit for the TV, it hasn’t worked anywhere except with movies where there’s a history of rental transactions,’ he added.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We’re going to take the road that’s obviously far less traveled and actually wait for Apple to announce something before we analyze it.
I think 99 cents to rent a half hour show makes about as much sense as 4.99 for an iPad magazine. Watch two hours of TV a day cost you 60 a month and you can’t even Tivo it? Not a good plan for my household.
The blogosphere has done a collective yawn about 99 cent rentals, and most everyone can go back to sleep.
Meanwhile, in Cupertino, the controlled “leak” of this trial ballon has achieved its intended purpose…ammunition to convince the studios to give iTunes, and hence consumers, a better deal than this.
Don’t think this stuff doesn’t get out for a reason.
“(Apple) didn’t manage to create a subscription-based service for iTunes, though it has been rumored for years,”
That statement summarizes the retardery that is the tech blogging community. Well done, sirs.
No interest in .99 tv show rentals.
I’d only buy an iTV for the apps and photo/music features. Unless Apple can improve upon the Tivo experience, I’d rather it remain a device with a different intended purpose.
Sucks that the studios won’t play ball.
Tend to agree with HughB. While cable is all f*cked up and you end up not watching 95% of what it offers, I don’t see the point in renting shows. I know you could watch them when you want, but if you tape or Tivo you can do that. I may be missing something and all will be revealed in good time, but this might be a hard sell.
won’t rent for .99
Good God, finding two hours of decent TV in a day is a mighty chore, dare I say next-to-impossible.
So nobody channel surfs?
99 cents the rental could not be possible? The movie already paid for it self in the movie theaters, they don’t have to have a physical office to rent it, you don’t have to pay personnel to watch out for the movies, you don’t have to pay for the physical media any more. What is it that is impossible? damm greedy people.
Why would I want to rent something that will cost me almost as much as just purchasing the entire season on DVD when it comes out?
Why would I rent when I can just get Hulu Plus for $10 a month and have unlimited ‘rentals’?
If that’s the model Apple is gonna propose, and perhaps its not, it’ll be a failure too.
99 cents for an hour long show like Fringe on my 47″ TV with no commercials is something I’d pay for. I’d even pay 50 cents for an episode of The Daily Show, sans commercials on my TV. Of course, they are not talking about 50 cent shows, are they.
Unlike apparently everyone else in the world, I don’t think the 99 cent rental cost per show is a bad way to start. Let’s start this way and see where things go.
This is similar to digital magazines on the iPad. Some boneheads start with $5 per issue and then others try $2.50 per issue and more than double their sales. Eventually, the publishers find the sweet spot where they make the most money. Since that sweet spot is probably around 99 cents it may take them awhile, but you gotta start somewhere.
If I go to their web sites like http://www.syfy.com I can watch the stuff for free. So, I should just get a Mac mini and hook it up to the HDTV and be done with this question. Reminds me of the free TV when I was a kid.
I like watching my TV shows on my TV so for me huluu is out, and I won’t pay a monthly subscription for just TV shows. I missed an episode of a series the other day, and it is not on netflix or on demand, but it is on itunes, I just want to see that episode i don’t want to buy it, if i could get it for a rental of 0.99 i would. So 0.99 has a market for missed shows.
His Title, Research Director of Digital Media, leads me to believe that his predictive ability may be lacking. That said, perhaps the video quality will be better. And for those to whom time is money, the time savings achieved with no commercial interruptions may be worth 99¢.
The ideal iTV solution for me would feature a combination of full support for:
-Hulu/Hulu+
-Netflix
-YouTube
-Facebook
-Apps
-Photos
-Music
-Stream other videos from my Mac
I have next to no interest in renting through iTunes, but this combo would be a killer app package for me.
No TV rentals. Doesn’t work for households with kids… need DVR (time-shifting, no-timeout) capability. Cable too much but this wouldn’t be a replacement.
I didn’t have much faith in the iPad until I actually saw it. Then I saw that it was something I could actually have a use for (albeit not as much as a MBP or an iPhone). I would love to have an AppleTV, and if the TV rentals allow me to watch shows on a big screen, with my family, with good visuals and sound quality, then I’m all for it. Likewise I could see getting into a show and taking it with me on an iPhone 4. Would I prefer a subscription model? Of course. But this could work.
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