“Look out, bears: Apple has once again turned the mobile content market on its head. Thank Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert; fans of Comedy Central’s late-night dynamic duo are being given the option to subscribe to downloads of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart or The Colbert Report for $9.99 though the iTunes online store [Multi-Pass]. The fee covers a month’s worth of shows, or 16 episodes. (Single viewings will also be sold for the usual $1.99 per-video price tag.) The move marks Apple’s first foray into the subscription model for digital downloading, a strategy which has been common among competitors such as Napster and RealNetworks’ Rhapsody. However, unlike those services, where you effectively rent the music, customers own the episodes of The Daily Show that they download via iTunes,” Tim Beyers writes for The Motley Fool.
“With this deal, the growing iTunes video library, and the emergence of media-savvy PCs like the Mac mini, it’s becoming increasingly clear that consumers will someday be able to forgo traditional TV altogether, downloading only what they want, and replaying it commercial-free,” Beyers writes. “Comedy Central’s new deal with Apple has the potential to alter the economics of mobile content, again. And that can mean only one thing: Disney, CBS, NBC, News Corp., and, well, every other content provider on the planet, might also find themselves on notice.”
Full article here.
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Leeloo Dallas MultiPass.
Mul . . . ti . . . pass.
Go AAPL! Go AAPL! Go AAPL! Go AAPL!
It’s not a subscription service, it’s a bulk discount… sweet!
Kick everybodys ass Steve!
Kick Amazons ass Steve!
I’m still failing to see how this is a “foray into the subscription model”. This is a pre-order/bulk discount, you still own the episode after the month is up, even if you don’t buy the following month.
The current “digital subscription model” used by Napster and others is a “never-never” plan, where you never stop paying, and you never own the download.
Apple stock dropped again…
Kick Google’s arse while you’re at it, Steve!
Eddy – Whether I subscribe to a magazine for 3 months, 1 year or more years I get to keep the magazine. And I can cancel it anytime I want.
This is a one month subscription for a particular program.
Apple is market testing to see how it works out.
Watch for other subscription ideas to come from them.
It is Napster and others that have twisted the idea of a subscription. What the others have is a rental/leasing scheme.
Somehow I think Disney will get on board with the multi-pass pretty quickly.
They just fail to see that you have to pay two or three times for a song on Napster to actually OWN it and even with the multipass Apple only charges you ONCE. They make it cheaper instead of a lot more expensive to get what you want on-the-go and on cd…
but it IS the start of lower pricing for TV, and this I like!
It sounds good, but has anybody else had a problem with the shows updating? I bought the pass for The Daily Show, and have only gotten one episode so far. I did, in fact, purchase the pass, not just one episode. I have the documentation. And I contacted Apple.. but I haven’t gotten a response yet. So.. just wondering.. anybody else having the same problem?
i agree with iSteve.
Its comparable to a subscription for a magazine: pay up front, get a better deal, keep it. napster, etc are more similar to renting, but even that doesn’t fit. Its like getting pass to visit several theme parks or something. the other ones are more of a “pass” while this is more of a subscription. whatever. $10. daily show. no problem.
Multipass sounds like a-la-carte cable in the making to me.
Jason, try “Check for New Purchases” under the Advanced menu, or go to the apple forums. I’ve had problems with that before, but its worked fine with the Daily show.
Nice, but what about the rest of the world? I’m tired of streaming Real-versions of The Daily Show. Streaming sucks for anything but live.
I don’t see this as a subcription like the others because you are actually buying the videos as opposed to renting them. It’s more like buy all and get it at half price rather than a subcription.
Let’s call this a subscription because it’s like subscriptions used to be.
Let’s call the Napster thing rent. Then it becomes more obvious how little you get by renting.
Let’s take the word subscription back!
Leeloo
that is hilarious… i was thinking the exact same thing.
i drool over Milla
5th Element
Not quite sure why but I don’t like it.
All this and 1.99 will get you a bag of Gemini Croquettes.
The problem with Napster and the like is that customers don’t like to be reminded that they are renting content, that’s why Napster have had to adopt a different word – subscription. Blockbuster are happy to rent you a movie and use the ‘R’ word, but Napster don’t want you to realise that you are renting their music.
As others have pointed out, Apple is using the word in the same manner as magazine subscriptions have been for many years. You pay in advance, get each copy when it’s produced and they’re yours to keep, even if you stop subscribing.
Napster have created a tiny bit of confusion because they can’t admit what their service really is, but it’s only going to be a temporary problem. How long can Napster continue flushing money away at that rate ? When they finally cease trading, the word can revert to it’s proper meaning.
“It sounds good, but has anybody else had a problem with the shows updating? I bought the pass for The Daily Show, and have only gotten one episode so far”
Jason,
Just checked the music store and all three NEW episodes of The Daily Show are up. That is all the NEW shows since the multi-pass started. Mondays show was a rerun since Jon was still hung over fromn the Oscars.
I like the reference to the report at the end of the summary.
MW{notice}
the reason why Apple’s stock is still diving is because daytraders are mostly very nervous, shortsighted people. They hear one analyst mention something negative and they start selling.