Apple’s iTunes Pitch: TV for $30 a Month
Peter Kafka writes of rumors swirling around Apple pitching TV networks on the idea of a subscription iTunes service. In the past, people have focused on a music subscription service from Apple, which obviously has been in the planning stages, but has faced a lot of push back from the recording industry. TV shows on the other hand, make perfect sense - iTunes currently hosts the latest episodes and seasons from almost all of the large networks and cable channels.
Would you pay for a service like this? The $30 price tag is definitely a sweet spot to be, compared to the $60 plus that Comcast, Time Warner, and Verizon charge for basic service. On the other hand Netflix, who has a growing catalog of television shows, offers unlimited instant online viewing with all of their plans, the cheapest at $8.99/month.
The good thing is that the pricing scheme wouldn’t vary between network and premium channels, as episodes are the same price across the board from iTunes. For me this would be perfect, as I’m not a channel surfer; right now I DVR my favorite shows, and watch them when I have the time. Still, this wouldn’t cover live news, and sports, two very important things to consider.
Kafka mentions that Disney is a frontrunner in the talks with Apple; not a surprise considering Steve Jobs is the single largest individual shareholder, owning more than 7% of the company. A partnership with Disney would be a great starting point, as they own ABC, ESPN, and manage several other networks including A&E and Lifetime.
Interested to see where things go with this — on demand online content is slowly convincing consumers to ditch their cable boxes.
