CBS promises to sell some TV shows on iTunes for 99 cents
By Donald Melanson 
posted February 19th 2010 1:33PM
posted February 19th 2010 1:33PM
We'd already heard that Apple hoped to bring at least some TV shows down to the 99-cent mark on iTunes in time for the iPad launch, and it looks like CBS is now the first to officially come on board. While a final deal apparently isn't done just yet, CBS CEO Leslie Moonves has flatly told the Financial Times that there "are certain shows that will be sold on Apple for 99 cents" -- not exactly much wiggle room there. Other networks aren't speaking on the record just yet, but the Financial Times has previously reported that some have already agreed to similar terms, and are expected to start selling shows at the lower price -- possibly coinciding with the iPad launch.Update: Peter Kafka at All Things Digital has some more info on this -- sources tell him Moonves was speaking off the cuff, and while CBS is open to a deal with Apple, there's nothing in place quite yet. Unfortunately, no one's going on the record here, so the situation remains hazy -- we'll just have to wait and see what happens.
So, how do you think the RIAA is going to justify selling any music for more than $0.99 when you can buy some television show for less than many songs?
@Garst
they seemed to do just fine charging $15 for a 45 minute CD when a 2 hour DVD movie was sitting next to it for $10.
@Ordeith2: Right but the 2 hour dvd is one movie, the CD is ~12 songs. Break it up individually, charge $1 a song and $1 a show, it doesn't compare.
I don't have cable any more. I buy all my TV shows on Apple TV. So far it's worked great.
Seriously? Does anyone actually pay for tv episodes? Hulu anyone? BitTorrent? I'd like to meet the person who would actually pay for episodes of CBS series.
If they had everything available, and in HD, $1/show should be cheaper than a satellite dish, but that still wouldn't offer live content or sports, so I don't think that DirecTV and Dish have much to worry about.
At $3/show for HD, its just not that great, unless you don't watch much TV. With satellite HD DVRs and big screens, I don't think iTunes is going to take over the world, but its still a neat service.