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Comcast testing pay-per-package, still afraid of a-la-carte
Charleston, South Carolina might be famous for the eponymous knee / hand dance, but this week sees it become the second location in the US to get Comcast's MyTV Choice. Rather than buying all the channels, or paying á la carte for just the ones you watch, you pick a platform and then bolt on a package of channels, grouped by theme -- you get "Entertainment & Lifestyle," "Movies," "Kids" or "News & Info." These smaller, cheaper bundles are in response to being forced to carry channels owned by the same group, if you're paying for MTV, you're also paying for TV Land, for example. Still, those in the city (when not dancing their knee joints away) should be interested to know that the Get Started platform costs $25, Get Started Plus $45 and each additional package is $10.
Why iTunes needs to offer an album-based subscription service
One of the key announcements to come out of Apple's "It's only rock and roll, but I like it" event on September 9th was iTunes LP. As implied in its name, iTunes LP seeks to provide a more rich album experience, something that has taken a backseat given the decline of physical albums. iTunes LP includes features typically found on physical albums, such as liner notes and photos, as well as exclusive video content. One of the goals of iTunes LP is to resuscitate album sales, which have been struggling in the iTunes age of à la carte individual track sales. While iTunes LP provides a means to resuscitate the album, an album-based subscription service would further this goal even more.
