“Apple is close to announcing it has signed a deal to sell HBO programs and movies on the iTunes website, according to HBO employees involved in executing the agreement,” Josh Saul reports for Portfolio.com.
“The deal marks the first time that Apple has agreed to a separate price structure for a content provider, one of the employees said,” Saul reports.
“The HBO insiders said that the new service would be launched and announced simultaneously, most likely in a week or two,” Saul reports.
“The HBO-Apple agreement is a strategic coup for both companies. Apple is trying to increase sales and awareness of its new Apple TV, a device that allows viewers to rent movies and buy content from your television. HBO wants to profit from its archive by letting fans buy old episodes of shows like Deadwood and The Larry Sanders Show,” Saul reports.
“The terms of this new deal could open a Pandora’s box for iTunes. With the advent of pricing variation, movie studios, and musicians will want to charge more for their big hits. Apple could be pressured to accept variable pricing for other content, a change it has resisted in the past,” Saul reports.
“‘We should have done this a long time ago,’ said an HBO insider,” Saul reports.
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Linux Guy And Mac Prodigal Son” for the heads up.]
If so, Steve Jobs should grant Apple-approved (simple and consistent) variable pricing options to everyone except NBC. They need to do at least a year of penance.
Flight of the Conchords please.
Deadwood and The Larry Sanders Show? WTF?
It’s all about The Sopranos, baby! I already have seasons 1-6A burned from my DVDs but if iTunes carries the extended half of season 6 for the right price they’ll get some more business out of me.
I don’t like the idea of flexible pricing; I think it will “dirty” and “complicate” iTunes Store. However, I look forward to downloading HBO’s exciting content!
Vintage clips of Video Jukebox!
Entourage… Let’s hug it out…
HBO is smart to consider new distribution channels such as Apple TV via iTunes. Variable pricing structure will un-level the playing field though. Apple, please keep it simple (and elegant) what ever you decide to do.
On principle, I would rather have a set price for all content on iTunes than be able to legitimately purchase Flight of the Conchords (and for me, that says quite a bit).
(And Amazon is why.)
Apple already some variable pricing of shows (PBS for example). But, their is no bundling of programs which is/was the sticking point with NBC.
The Wire.
I don’t see a problem with variable pricing. Let’s face it, some creative content is better than others; some entertainers have earned the right to charge a premium. Let the market decide. If products are overpriced, they won’t sell. Prices will find the proper level if there is an open system. The key is for Apple and the content producers to find a simplified tier structure. Something like set pricing for Premium, Standard, and Bargain sections.
Apple started with a flat pricing model, and that simplicity helped to build the iTunes base. But everyone is used to a variable retail pricing structure – the same product can cost different amounts in different stores, or even with just different packaging. So I am at a loss to understand the resistance to variable pricing in iTunes. It is merely another retail store. In fact, variable pricing has existed in iTunes for a while with DRM’ed and DRM-free music tracks, various albums, music videos, standard versus HD movies, etc.
The current debate is over variable pricing within a particular area, and I see no reason why all music should be $0.99 per track. Does every track in the iTunes Store have the same value to you?
Everyone seems concerned that variable pricing will inflate prices, and it may do that for popular material. But supply/demand elasticity also has the potential to reduce prices. If the price goes up under a variable pricing structure, then vote with your dollar and the price will eventually go back down. It is time to free up the constraints on the iTunes Store and let it function similarly to other retail venues.
I would purchase HBO’s fine “John Adams.”
Please please please have Rome available!!! That show was awesome, at least in the first season. Got a little weird in the second one.
I’d like some of the HBO “America Undercover” series of documentaries. Some of those are extremely well done and entertaining.
HBO’s Real Sex!!!
I’m guessing the “variable” pricing will apply to HBO miniseries stuff that would be hard to price under the movie or TV Show category.
I don’t value HBO much, but enjoy Real Time with Bill Maher. Sign me up for a season pass.
The Docs are pretty good as well. The rest not so much.
I predicted this when the Apple TV initially got announced. More studios to follow. If you guys thing the iPod was big, you haven’t seen anything yet.
HBO – check
Showtime – check
Comedy Central – check
BBC America – check
ABC (Lost) – check
FX (The Shield) – check
Fox (Mad TV) – check
SciFi – shit!
Give me SciFi and its hello Apple TV and goodbye Comcast.
@Spark,
Your reason for not minding variable pricing, namely that better quality deserves more is not a good one. We certaily don’t have this at the box office. However, charging less for old episodes makes sense. So, I don’t mind paying less for older content as long as there is a cap on new episode pricing.
I can see them charging a bit more for same day releases.
Time Warner. One of the WORST cable companies out there. My wife and I have had many problems with Time Warner relating to billing, service, quality of signal, etc. We’re patiently waiting for FIOS TV to be offered in our area so we can drop TW once and for all. (We already have FIOS and dropped Time Warner and their “advanced fiber network” as our ISP.)
We have a relatively new CRT television with a good picture – so it’s no Apple TV for us. Likewise, we really enjoy the Wii. Mario Kart racing – two thumbs up.
Peace.
I’m not a big GoggleBox fan, but it would be nice to download a program or two from HBO rather than committing and paying for a subscription to HBO and not watching 99% of it.
Good move. Let’s hope it happens.
Why doesn’t Apple get their shit together with the CRTC in Canada and get all the mainstream US shows available for us on itunes.ca?
HBO started an online download service earlier this year. It lets HBO subscribers watch 400 hours of programming a month and stream HBO’s main channel. The service, called HBO on Broadband,
I would pay a monthly subscription for this on iTunes!
Anyone who thinks prices are going to go down because variable pricing is introduced is just deluding themselves.
Hey, if I thought for one moment that variable pricing would reduce the price of my music purchases, I’d be on it in a New York minute. Most of the stuff I buy is older than 10 to 15 years.
But it’s not going to happen.
Because… I suspect that most of the money that moves thru the iTunes store comes from sales of catalog music titles and not recent stuff.
The way retailers (like Walmart) run their $5 DVD bins doesn’t hold up in the digital marketplace. Those $5 bins exist to clear out old content that stores need to remove in order to open up store shelves for new releases.
In the digital realm there is no need to clear out old goods, so there is no need for a “$5 bin.”
“The current debate is over variable pricing within a particular area, and I see no reason why all music should be $0.99 per track.”
You’re right.
A lot of music should be priced less. Like most new stuff put out by whatever flavor-of-the-month, no talent is currently being pushed on music patrons by the bean counters currently running the music labels.
“Does every track in the iTunes Store have the same value to you?
No.