“Steve Jobs has been pushing the idea of 99 cent rentals around Hollywood for about a year now, sending the message that the current $1.99 price to *buy* a TV episode is too high,” Boorstin reports. “His pitch: bringing the price down to 99 cents for a rental will expand the volume of sales dramatically.”
Boorstin reports, “Disney and News Corp’s Fox are both on track to sign on for Apple’s new rental plan. They’re both still in negotiations, but all signs point to a deal: 99 cent rentals for 48 hours, starting 24 hours after a show airs. A key point: they’re not worried about cannibalizing their business with 99 cent rentals. Selling episodes for $1.99 on Apple and offering shows free and ad supported on Hulu has only generated incremental revenue. They don’t see see 99 cent rentals as competition for broadcast TV, but as an alternative to piracy. One executive close to these negotiations told me ‘If our content’s not available in an easy way to consumers, they’re just going to find it elsewhere.'”
MacDailyNews Take: Smart executive; sounds like Anne Sweeney.
Boorstin reports, “Steve Jobs is on Disney’s board. And News Corp is forging new ties to Jobs: Rupert Murdoch has raved about the iPad as a savior for the news business and is now building a digital news app designed to distribute through the iPad. A few industry execs have suggested that Murdoch’s need for prime placement for his news app is his ulterior motive for striking a TV rental deal. But NBC Universal (CNBC’s parent) and CBS are not signing on for the 99 cent model. CBS doesn’t sell its network shows on Apple and won’t be part of the new deal. CBS simply does not see sufficient value to get on board.”
MacDailyNews Take: If by “Apple,” Boorstin means “iTunes Store,” then yes, CBS most certainly does sell TV shows “on Apple.” That’s how we watch CBS’s “The Amazing Race.” (Don’t you judge us.)
Boorstin contunes, “NBC’s resistance to 99 cent TV rentals predated the Comcast merger, so its relationship with Comcast isn’t why it’s holding back. NBC won’t reveal its revenue numbers from $1.99 sales, but seems quite happy with the way its iTunes sales are going. So why would NBC possibly cut the price for its episodes in half? “
MacDailyNews Take: Because they’d make more money? NBC Universal really needs to wake up and get rid of Jeff “Spell it with a capital F” Zucker.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Brawndo Drinker” for the heads up.]
How about $99 or $1.99 movie rentals, just like RedBox, and $1.99 or $2.99 HDs?
I may get a Mac mini and set up a web page with links to the already free media that you can watch if you will watch the 1 or 2 stupid commercials that you can’t skip. Once you have been to your favorite sites, book mark them. No DVR or cable TV contract required.
Reminds me of the rabbit ear antennas on my TV when I was a kid in the 60’s, then in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. FREE with some commercials!!!
@MDN:
Spot on with your take!!! I love it.
RobG I’ll never pay $99 for a movie rental.
Oh wait, you may have meant 99¢.
Alt.binaries.tv + handbrake = FU networks
this is another prime example of an industry that can’t see past it’s profit margin and will fall like the record companies. if apple starts talking to the production companies who actually make/produce the shows, they can figure they can cut out the middle man and start making profit on their own.
once they figure out they can sell a series to apple, then the shinola is going to hit the fan. the whole hollywood business model is going to get disrupted and get pushed off a cliff. once they figure out how to get around the unions, it’s going to be the wild west all over again…
Not to mention that more popular iTunes becomes, the less likely production companies will be to deal with the networks and just put up their shows on iTunes, just like more indie musicians are putting their music on iTunes and authors are putting their works on iBooks. More indie production companies will be popping up and funneling their work through iTunes, thus giving them a broader audience. Networks might want to consider this before they go the way of the dodo bird.