Apple iTunes to compete "day-and-date" with DVD releases -- Wal-Mart weeps (now official)
By Thomas Ricker 
posted May 1st 2008 8:33AM
posted May 1st 2008 8:33AM
Hollywood Reporter says that Apple is expected to announce today an across-the-board deal to sell new release films at its iTunes Store. The deal is said to allow Apple to offer a "broad slate of top-shelf films" day-and-date with home video releases -- a long time sticking point with brick-and-mortar interests who want to keep their early-release edge on digital downloads. The deal includes Fox, Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal, Sony Pictures, Lionsgate, New Line and more -- all of which are currently inked to deliver rentals through iTunes. MGM is not part of the deal. That puts Apple in direct competition with Wal-Mart's DVD empire after having pushed Wal-Mart from the top spot in music sales for the first two months of the year.Update: It's official. New releases will cost $15 and catalog titles will cost $10 -- US only for now. Full press release after the break.
CUPERTINO, Calif., May 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Apple(R) today announced that new movie releases from major film studios and premier independent studios are available for purchase on the iTunes(R) Store (http://www.itunes.com) on the same day as their DVD release. New releases and catalog titles will be available from 20th Century Fox, The Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios Home Entertainment, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Lionsgate, Image Entertainment and First Look Studios. Movies purchased from iTunes can be viewed on an iPod(R) with video, iPhone(TM), Mac(R) or PC or on a widescreen TV with Apple TV(R), with new releases priced at $14.99 and most catalog titles at $9.99.
"We're thrilled to bring iTunes Store customers new films for purchase day-and-date with the DVD release," said Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of iTunes. "We think movie fans will love being able to buy their favorites from major and independent studios."
New releases available for purchase on the iTunes Store this week, concurrent with their DVD release, include "American Gangster" and "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." Other popular titles now available for purchase include "Juno," "Cloverfield," "I Am Legend," "There Will Be Blood," "Alvin and the Chipmunks" and "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story."
The iTunes Store is the world's most popular online music, TV and movie store with a catalog of over six million songs, 600 TV shows and over 1,500 films including 200 in stunning high definition video. With Apple's legendary ease of use, pioneering features such as new iTunes Movie Rentals, integrated podcasting support, iMix playlist sharing, the ability to turn previously purchased tracks into complete albums at a reduced price, and seamless integration with iPod and iPhone, the iTunes Store is the best way for Mac and PC users to legally discover, purchase and download music and video online.
Pricing & Availability
Movie purchases and rentals from the iTunes Store for Mac or Windows require iTunes 7.6.2, available as a free download immediately from http://www.itunes.com. iTunes movie purchases and rentals require a valid credit card with a billing address in the country of purchase. iTunes Movies are available in the US only and are $9.99 (US) for library title purchases and $14.99 (US) for new release purchases and $2.99 (US) for library title rentals and $3.99 (US) for new release rentals, and high definition rental versions are priced just one dollar more with library title rentals at $3.99 (US) and new release rentals at $4.99 (US). Short films are available to rent for 99 cents (US). Movies can be previewed, purchased and watched on iPod classic, iPod nano with video, iPod touch, iPhone and on a widescreen TV with Apple TV.
Apple ignited the personal computer revolution in the 1970s with the Apple II and reinvented the personal computer in the 1980s with the Macintosh. Today, Apple continues to lead the industry in innovation with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system and iLife and professional applications. Apple is also spearheading the digital media revolution with its iPod portable music and video players and iTunes online store, and has entered the mobile phone market with its revolutionary iPhone.
(C) 2008 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. Apple, the Apple logo, Mac, Mac OS, Macintosh, iTunes, iPod, iPhone and Apple TV are trademarks of Apple. Other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
Microsoft revoking their own MSN Music Store DRM keys is a perfect reason why it's a bad idea to buy any "owned" DRM content because it's not going to last forever.
If anything, I think that Digital Downloads are great for renting because DRM keys MAKE sense in that situation. You don't want copies to persist forever. But trying to say that you can own bits is a fallacy on both sides of the fence (consumers and content makers).
Hack through whatever DRM gets in your way. It's evil, and mowing over it is your right. Don't let the Man keep you down!
Seriously though, physical copies hurt the environment, and if hacking DRM is the only way you'll go digital, for the sake of our planet, please do it.
I insist on enjoying /all/ my media on my PC, and all my time on my PC in Ubuntu. I'm not going to put up with any crap.
If a law is as broken as it can get, show me the harm in breaking that law. ^_^
This post brought to you from an obscure pacific island nation. *cough*
Mowing over DRM in the US is a federal crime.
US only I take it?
This is great news if you happen to live in one of the few countries iTunes supports the sale of TV and Movie content in. I live in Ireland, have a healthy internet connection and an Apple TV (among other digital media devices) but I can't avail of the iTunes service.
I realize this has to do with copyright laws and distribution agreements, but I still find it very annoying. I also realize that there are ways around this, but I shouldn't have to pony up for an American iTunes gift card on eBay and hope its legitimate and I shouldn't have to spoof my IP address either. And its not just Apple. Amazon, Google and some of the pay-as-you-download legal bit torrents all have the same restrictions. So although I strive to be legal, if I cant buy it in local stores, order it online and have it shipped or download it legally, I will obtain it illegally from a bit torrent site until such time as the content is available to me in another format.
Its a bit off topic for this thread, so I apologize for the rant. But now that there are more Internet users outside the US than inside, it would be nice if some of these download options were implemented in a more universal manner. I realize it will never happen ... but a guy can hope can't he?
This is cool... and any competition helps, but if Apple wants me to spring for DRM-laden files, at least show me the HD, eh?
"top-shelf films" must have a different meaning in the US, but in the UK items on the top-shelf are kept up there to keep them out of reach of minors **nudge-nudge-wink-wink**
Unless it's true and iTunes _is_ going to start selling smut ;-)
Yeah, it mean's the good new releases - put in a location where everyone can see them. The crappier movies are down, away from eye level, on the floor.
Porn is either sold in a completely separate room or a completely separate store. Although, I'm not quite sure who gets it from a store anymore.
In the US, generally "top shelf" means of the highest quality.
I think I like your definition better. :D
To all the whiners & doubters. Digital media is clearly the future. Whether its downloadable movies & music on iTunes, video rentals on AppleTV, streaming content on Netflix, the big networks starting to put all their shows up online for free accessible through web browsers, the tons of HD video sharing services popping up left & right, watching streaming TV or downloaded movies on your portable electronic devices, etc.
Physical media had its moment in the sun, now its time to move on. It happened with music, so its foolish to think it won't happen with video as well.
So either get with it, grandpa or GTF outta the way.
I couldn't agree more.
My question...what freakin' device has a "cover flow" interface and support for a host of my own format conversions?! AppleTV looks great for iTunes purchases but nothing else that I could see under the "My Movies" section.
...and I'm going to have to disagree with you on this.
Digital media may be the future, but not for quite a while. Many people still receive their internet connections over a dial-up connection (like a community in Ohio I've heard of) and there is no practicality in switching to a digital format until the infrastructure is in place to ensure that everybody can get the content.
Hell, I've got broadband and I'd prefer not to wait for a movie download when I could just drive to the store and pick up the movie in 5 minutes.
I don't think it's necessarily the same as for music. People generally watch films in a different way to how they listen to music. Since a film lasts a couple of hours, films stored on a hard disk don't really offer a significant advantage compared to going to a shelf of DVDs and picking one out when you're talking about owning the content. For music, there's the advantage of being able to organise using Media Player/iTunes, creating playlists, etc.
physical media has had it's day? Why the past tense? Vinyl is still being sold today and doesn't look like it will disappear anytime soon. CDs certainly surpassed it but it didn't take away all of its market share. Music purists who swear by the sound of vinyl and DJs don't look to be giving up on the format anytime soon.
Likewise digital downloading is big now - but CDs still sell and so do DVDs even though Blu-Ray is here. Both CDs and DVDs will be around for much longer. At the end of the day, the DRM issue and compatability of wanting one digital format to play on xxxx device will always hinder us since the companies only really care about themselves and not making life easier for us. If iTunes didn't have DRM and wasn't handcuffed to the iPod/iPhone/Apple TV - don't you think it would be a lot more popular? If Apple are selling HD movies at $15 and a Blu-Ray copy can be bought at $20 - then the $5 markup is justified for the physical media/printing etc, but then comparing both movies like for like at $15 - the Blu-Ray is simply a better option when it comes to quality.
lol. Clearly an ex HD-DVD fanboi.
Now lets get it into the UK, then it would make the big brotherism more bearable.
Please apple please!!!!
Finally Apple understands what there customers want. Hurrayyy!!!
I'm pretty sure they knew the whole time, the studios control the movies - not apple.
Argh argh argh DRM low-quality rip-off iTunes sucks argh argh argh....
Look, the iTunes store is what it is. I don't know why people need to complain about it over and over again every time something like this is announced. It is a one-stop solution that is meant to encourage use of Apple products while at the same time providing a variety of content. For many people it is a fine solution, and for many Engadget readers it is an abomination due to the restrictions of DRM. That's fine, but I feel like the righteous indignation gets a bit old. Save it for Boing Boing.
Anyway, I do have to argue strongly with the pricing, particularly when I can walk into a Best Buy and often get a catalog title on DVD on sale for $10 without the restrictions of iTunes DRM. Digital content needs to be cheaper for it to gain greater traction. Songs for $1? No problem when CDs cost over $10 and CD singles are at least $5 (do they even still make those?). But whole movies at the exact same price as the physical counterpart? I'll stick to the rentals, thanks.
No one company should monopolize a distribution channel... especially Apple. There needs to be standardization for digital content distribution so consumers can have a choice.
@ Nahone - you don't need to buy a mac to use purchased movie or rented movie feature, Apple TV is a stand alone product with the capability to sync with a Mac if you want. Having its own network connection and onboard storage allows for this. So you can take the $1099 out of the equation. Most people already have a TV, and if you're tech savvy enough to be worried about HD/SD, then you probably already have a new HD flat panel display, so you can also take that out of the equation too. You can't really include a new HD Tv in the comparison anyway, since it is something that people are going to buy any way, regardless of the means of media delivery.
Eventually, there would most likely be HD versions of the movies to purchase from iTunes. Given that most Blu-ray movies cost almost $30, I don't think that the HD version of the download would cost nearly as much. Plus, prices of Blu-ray players will not come down to the $229 entry point of Apple TV any time soon, as there is no competition from HDDVD to drive prices down. Sales of Blu-ray, other than PS3, have already dropped off.
Most people (the readers of this website don't fall under "most" people) have already decided they don't care about having a physical version of music, hence iTunes overwhelming share of the music retailing business, so it is only a matter of time before they embrace digital downloads of movies the same way. As lazy as it seems, with gas prices and other economic factors effecting American's habits, if there's a choice of buying a movie through a download for nearly the same price as a DVD or Blu-ray, with out spending $5+ on gas to get to the brick and mortar store to get the disc, I have a good feeling people will opt for the download.
Yup, I owned a Blu-ray player... so did my mom and brother. Too bad they are 1.0 or 1.1 and don't play the new blu-rays. Blu-ray is a ripoff to me. It left the early adopters high and dry. It really is pretty weak. So I am now back to purchasing standard DVDs for a $600 player.
My Apple TV on the other hand? Only works better than it did when I bought it. Can transfer my DVDs to it, and can download better HD than my current blu-ray player (thanks to the new ones no longer working).
that stinks. all that investment to only have them change it and leave you without. i agree that sometimes technology moves too fast or defeats the purpose of advancement. good luck with your Apple TV. We love ours too.
This is great news. Another step in the right direction. But, I wonder, will they also be offering RENTALS the same day? Now THAT would be news as well.
that's what i was wondering.
i'm also hoping the 24-hour limit on rentals can sooner or later (hopefully sooner) be extended to a more reasonable limit, like 48 hours, or a nice 52 (2 days and a few hours).
regardless, it's moving in the right direction.
Do people actually buy movies from Itunes? Wow... thats...wow...
What do you do if you want to watch it at a friend's house? Take your Mac over there? Or what if you download it and want to watch it on your TV vs. your comp? Oh wait.. thats right, Apple TV.. so I have to buy more hardware just because I want to watch a movie on my tv... Thanks but no thanks, I'll stick to the O-so user friendly DVD. It works on every system and I can transfer them to any video player I want in a click or two.
i buy movies on iTunes, which auto-sync to my iPod (iPhone soon, waiting for the 2nd gen) and i just plug my iPod in to whatever TV i want to watch it on.
...or, when i'm at my house, i just stream it to my Apple TV.
so you don't want to buy stuff... don't. but does it actually surprise you to see other people buying into a fairly comprehensive solution that works well for them? wow... just wow! some people are willing to spend money on things! crazy.
...as an aside, i've owned 5 DVD players in the last few years. 4 of which have died for no reason (and would have cost more to repair than buy a new one) ...and we're talking upscaling HDMI players, back when that was a big deal and costs several hundred dollars. I've owned Sony, Denon, etc. My AppleTV hasn't had a single problem, has already outlasted 2 players, and has an extended warrantee that actually means something. Maybe i just have bad luck, but DVD hasn't been o-so-friendly to me. I still use em, i still pay netflix, but i'm certainly not against alternatives.
I have no problems with alternatives... if they work with me and not against me.
So.. what if a friend wants to borrow a flick? What then? Lend them your Ipod? What if 2 friends want to borrow 2 different movies? How will you accomplish that without some fairly long processes.
There are many better alternatives to Itunes.
As for the Ipod, I prefer stuff that's built to last. Apple makes fly by night products. Disagree? Ok, how many Ipods do you own? 2? 3? 4?
I have 1 old Walkman and 1 old Discman that still work as well as the day I bought them. Who can say the same about a 1st or 2nd gen Ipod. Why do you have 3 Ipods?
Well lets see.. the first one, the battery died (and you couldn't change it) and it was cheaper to buy a new one. The second didn't have enough memory (which you couldn't upgrade) so you bought a third.
Now... what happens if you lose your Ipod? Your movies are gone. If I lose my media player it's no biggie I still have the DVD/downloaded file at home and since I can do whatever I want with them putting the movies onto a new player is a snap.
You unfortunately need to buy another Apple product and even if you do their DRM won't let you put the movies onto any other Ipod but your original. (yes I know there are ways, but thay are a pain in the @ss).
Actually I still have and use my 1st gen iPod. Works great and the physical wheel is now retro cool. Sorta like a '67 Mustang for iPod fans.
So I guess your one of the ones who coughed up the dough for a new battery, or you don't use it very much.
Same battery, but your probably right in that I am not the same demographic for usage as others.
Then again, I am probably more comparable to those who still use walkmans and tape audio.
Does the iTunes movie download match the quality of DVD? Do you get special features with the download?
its just seems to me that these downloads are working backwards in terms of audio/video quality. Will it be a few years till they are able to get DVD quality?
I agree with HalfJoey. Right now, digital downloads are a step backwards both in quality and functionality. In the movie/video realm, digital download will be unable to supplant physical media until they can rival or beat physical media's quality. Which won't happen until people have 100mbit internet connections, because no one is going to want to take 2 days to download a 30gb movie before they watch it. Convenience is great, but I don't see the convenience of a 480p, sub-DVD-quality download replacing the quality of even physical DVDs, much less hi-def discs. Especially when the download is the same price, so you pay more, for less, with the only value added being convenience.
Not to mention that you don't usually get special features with downloads, which some people (myself included) really like on their DVDs/Blu-Rays.
i like netflix. the end.
to sk8trpro
Eventually the CD will get replaced. Some say the 8 track has better quality of sound since it used "8-tracks" at the same time rather then CD. BetaMax was said to be better quality and sound over VHS but marketing push won. and yes even toshiba's lost DVD format was pushed by many to be better. Personally i hope Music "upgrades" from CD to DVD. Tapes only lived about 15 years. Its about time for a CD change now.
There's DRM on DVD's also - what's your point?
Talk to me when I can get 7.1 1080P.
"iTunes Store is the best way for Mac and PC users to *legally* discover, purchase and download music and video online." Found that distinction interesting.
Too bad the audio/video quality sucks in both SD and HD. I'm much much happier with my Vudu. I just use the AppleTV for music.ke
Wake me up when rentals are available same day as DVD rentals.
As far as owning a physical movie disc (BD or DVD), I'm all for that if it's a movie I want to own. Otherwise, for rentals I'm all about the digital download.
Have you seen the selection? Give me a break!