Apple TV+ and Major League Baseball (MLB) in March announced “Friday Night Baseball,” a weekly doubleheader with live pre- and postgame shows that will be available to fans in eight countries exclusively on Apple TV+ as soon as the regular season begins.
Fans can access “Friday Night Baseball” games and additional content, including new exclusive programs such as “Countdown to First Pitch” and “MLB Daily Recap,” in the Apple TV app.
Bill Shaikin for The Los Angeles Times:
The Angels played on Apple TV+ last Friday. The Dodgers play on Apple TV+ this Friday. That made this a good time to check in with Noah Garden, chief revenue officer at MLB…
Shaikin: As a fan, I might not be interested in your reach on a national scale. I just want to watch my team play. Why does MLB believe the Apple deal is good for fans?
Garden: First of all, any time you have a national game, it takes a local game of some sort of significance and exposes it to more people. So, from our perspective, it’s going to reach a huge domestic and national audience… In this case, Apple reaches into every single home, with their products and their app. Taking some of these games and making them national just gives more people the ability to watch them…
We feel like streaming has reached that critical mass, where putting exclusive national games on there are going to be additive to everything else we do and reach the broadest possible audience we can.
MacDailyNews Note: “Friday Night Baseball” games will be available to anyone with internet access across devices where Apple TV+ can be found, including on the Apple TV app on iPhone, iPad, Mac, Apple TV 4K and HD, and on tv.apple.com, along with smart TVs, gaming consoles, and cable set-top boxes. “Friday Night Baseball” will be available on Apple TV+ in the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, South Korea, and the United Kingdom, and for a limited time, without the need for a subscription.
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“Huge audience” in 9 countries but Apple TV+ subscribers in 165 countries (where Apple TV+ is marketed) are left out. Subscription cost for subscribers in these countries will not be lowered.
85 million annually spent means less budget for Apple TV+ content, which means all subscribers in those 165 countries get even less. Enjoy your “free lunch” on us in these 9 countries. I will sure not renew my TV+ subscription. I dont care if Tim Cook thinks that tiering subscribers is such a great idea.
The country restrictions are not Apple’s doing bit MLB and their archaic rules.
I’m the first to bash Timmy when he deserves it your problem is MLBs doing, not Timmy.
Maybe a modern tech company can expected to be able to find out a (technical) solution and explain it to their partners and STAND OUT for THEIR subscribers?
If they are unable to do so AND decide to pour over some of subscriber base with exclusives while providing NOTHING in return to those left out what it shows they just do not care. Why should I then?
Steve Jobs managed to convince record labels that 1 song = $1 and that having different prices for Metallica and German country band is too confusing for a customer.
Dividing subscribers to premiums and “idiots” is a big f y from Apple to its subscribers.
If unable to deliver them apologize, lower the sunscrption or create a new tier(s):
Apple TV++ (all inclusive access)
Apple TV+ (something less)
Apple TV- (just something, but less than something less)
Restrictions not made by Apple?
If you walk into a store and a store owner asks you to leave because the farmer he buys food from, told him not to sell to people matching your skin color, would you also be sympathetic and understanding to him? That it is not his fault and is not to blame? That its just arhaic rules of a weirdo farmer?
Of course Apple is enforcing these “rules”.
Baseball has become so slow and boring that no one will give a damn what Apple has made “available to fans in eight countries exclusively on Apple TV+ as soon as the regular season begins.”