Apple cutting iTunes pricing on TV episodes?

According to a report from Variety today, the Jobster and crew aren't stopping at iPhone price cuts. If you believe what the entertainment rag has to say about iTunes, the word on the street is that Apple is hoping to halve the cost of TV shows, dropping the $1.99 price to just $.99. Variety claims three separate sources have indicated that the Cupertino juggernaut has gone as far as telling networks and studios about the price drop, and that the plan was actually the cause of NBC's departure from the music / TV / movie download service. Apparently -- as with the Peacock network -- other providers are balking at the change, particularly when it comes to DVD boxed sets, as $.99 per-episode downloads could impact sales that many studios rely on. The paper goes on to claim that studios are interested in the idea of tiered pricing for older and newer shows (offering something like The Brady Bunch at a lower price than last week's episode of Lost), though Apple is resistant to the concept. Still, the report is largely hearsay at this point, so until we get some more solid facts, we're treating this as educated speculation.

[Thanks, Xavier]

[mixiboi Posted Sep 7th 2007 6:58PM]

I forgot that Mr Steve Jobs hates TV(Go google it).

[Rabidkeebler Posted Sep 7th 2007 11:36PM]

I'm really getting tired of all the Economics majors who have apparently decided to join engadget recently to bolster NBCs cause. You are making an overly simplified case for something much more complex.

This isn't about NBC trying to get quality items out "cheaper". It is about NBC feeling that it could get more for its products (by charging more) and Apple not willing to let that multi-tear pricing genie out of the bottle.

Much of the music industry (and entertainment industry in general) is upset at apples stranglehold on market share. This stranglehold is due to the ipod and the GUI(+ ownership) of music from itunes (I’m not bashing the music rental, just the overview that Americans tend to enjoy ownership over rental).

Now with Apple in control of its own store, and since most people shop at its store, it is able to negotiate contracts, instead of kowtowing to the entertainment industry (see Zune payments to Universal or the Canadian CD tax).

Any person who has been paying attention to the itunes contract negotiations over the past few years knows how much squirming the music industry has done. They want control over their own prices. NOT because they feel that .99 is too much, but that the new (insert major artist album here) is worth more than the simple .99. They feel that by charging (shot in the dark) 1.15 a song, that people will still be willing to pay that much, and see an increase in profits. Sure there will be a few disgruntled people who won’t buy, but the majority will be willing to fork over that extra dough for their music.

This is the same situation, but on a different front. Instead of Universal Records its NBC/Universal (Both owned by GE by the way). This could be GE (and its undercompanies) trying to break the itunes stranglehold. And for all the griping from people on this board I don’t see itune’s removal as a good thing (since .99 is about as cheap as it is going to get.)