Universal Continues iTunes War Cry
Posted in Apple, Entertainment by Dan at 9:08 am
This post was published 2 years 5 months 11 days ago which may make its actuality or expire date not be valid anymore. This site is not responsible for any misunderstanding.NBC Universal on its warpath against Apple is ending its iTunes after December. Now I think this is a classic case of “cutting off your nose to spite your face.” Apple is NBC’s biggest video supplier, which even eclipses their free Flash player, but NBC is arguing that it wants to bump prices and Apple doesn’t.
I understand the need for a company to make money, and I understand Apple’s desire to keep a universal price structure. But we have seen Apple has bent the rules when it comes to music pricing, so let them bend the rules for video pricing. If NBC wants to charge $50 an episode, so be it – then the consumers will flex their muscle in not buying the content.
I can see the point of having a price for “Heroes” and a different price for “The Office” due to their difference in length but I think that about all network shows. AN hour long show is usually more expensive to produce so I wouldn’t say raising it above the cost of a half hour program isn’t exactly and artificial inflation. If the just want to charge more for Programs because the are popular – regardless of their length – that would just be NBC being greedy and I’ll be siding apple on this.
I the long run, what’s the point? This isn’t a required revenue stream, it’s more like a bonus or tip like DVD sales – above and beyond tv advertising sales. Take the extra money you weren’t counting on and be thankfull. You not going to make as much money or sales as you did with iTunes anywhere else.
Well, for some TV shows, DVD sales are much more than a “tip”. HBO, for example, makes no money on advertising because they don’t have advertising during their shows. Obviously NBC Universal isn’t in that situation with most of their network TV shows, but it’s becoming increasingly more difficult to make money on a show through advertising alone, and are looking towards new revenue lines like iTunes. And given that iTunes dominates the market of online content distribution, spiting Apple like that is just as good as shooting yourself in a main artery.
A half hour and an full hour doesn’t matter, you don’t pay you cable bill per show you watch, and lets hope it never gets that far. You just pay to have access to anything you want and watch it for how ever long you want it.
@ annon
How you pay your cable bill is irrelevant unless you are talking about a download subscription model. Just because you pay a cable bill doesn’t entitle you (or anyone else) the opportunity the watch television at you convenience away from your TV without paying for that convenience. If that was the case then the Cable company would need to get a cut for all the viewers it would be loosing due to downloads, which would still put the cost-per-episode at a higher rate that it is now.
LOL what? Pay for what is broadcast over the air for free?
Are these people insane?