TV Networks Skeptical of $1 iTunes Episodes

Ed Sutherland ()

TV Networks Skeptical of $1 iTunes Episodes

When CBS CEO Les Moonves Thursday told analysts episodes of “certain shows” would be sold for $1 on iTunes, then a network spokesman emphasized no deal with Apple had actually been signed, it only reinforced the skepticism silently being voiced toward the Cupertino, Calif. firm.

Caught between the anticipated ire from affiliates for selling popular programming online and the siren song of Apple customers with 125 million credit cards, networks don’t want to say ‘no’ – not just yet.

“We’re willing to try anything, but the key word is ‘try’,” one anonymous TV network executive told the New York Times.

Although Apple would like to spark sales in of TV episodes via iTunes ahead of the expected March launch of the iPad, the company’s “proposals to lower prices across the board are being met by skepticism from the major networks,” the newspaper reports.

When Apple first began selling TV episodes on iTunes in 2005, it cost $1.99 to download ABC’s “Lost” or “Desperate Housewives.” NBC left in 2007 (then returned) after a dispute over Apple instituting $1.99 for TV episodes across-the-board, whether the show is in high-definition or standard video.

For Apple, revenue from sales of 375 million TV episodes via iTunes is small compared to the nearly 10 million songs downloaded. One financial analyst views online sales of TV episodes as a niche marketplace.

Apple, however, envisions $0.99 TV episodes sold through iTunes following the same successful path as music. TV executives don’t agree. Selling every TV episode at the same will decrease the value of television shows that can cost millions to make, anonymous studio heads told the New York Times.

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The report cites some TV executives who describe Apple as “desperate” to find content for the iPad.

[Via AppleInsider and New York Times]

9 comments »

About the author

Ed Sutherland

Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.

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  • Alfred

    Typo:

    >>For Apple, revenue from sales of 375 million TV episodes via iTunes is small compared to the nearly 10 million [[[should be billion]]] songs downloaded.

  • http://www.pendleproducts.com martin_tf

    I think that $1 hopefully £0.79 TV shows would be perfect. I would certainly think about buying more from iTunes rather than on DVD. Then I would probably want an Apple TV too.

  • http://www.snubcommunications.com Craig Grannell

    I’m not sure why execs value certain shows so highly. It’s pretty absurd when single episodes of House cost £2.49 and the seasons more than the box-set. If they were 99p, I’d have bought the entire last season immediately.

  • Alex

    that would be $.99 more than not selling at all. more people would be encouraged to pay $.99 rather than spending too long illegally downloading it.

  • jr

    The networks are crazy… a lot of people that are downloading TV shows from iTunes are already paying for them via cable subscription anyway. Now they can double dip by offering the shows they want on their mobile devices… but $1.99/episode is more expensive then buying a boxed DVD set at a fraction of the cost to get the product into the customers hands. They are either insane to forego all the extra revenue that $0.99/episode would bring in or scared that Apple is going to take the lions share of the market. My guess is both… the networks are insane and scared.

  • http://blackrockpodcast.blogspot.com Curtis

    I pay about .50 per channel per month. I don’t see where they can realisticly expect $1 or more per show???

  • Ictus75

    I’d certainly buy a lot more shows at $0.99. I think the networks would make up sales revenue in selling more shows than they are now. It’s a no brainer.

  • http://twitter.com/tHoj101 Tyler

    Open the link below. This was found and briefly studied. If you look close, REALLY LOOK…you can see a “glint” of an iPad(iSight) camera in the top, center bezel. More proof an iSight capable iPad may be down the road.

    Link to iPad camera photo(separate from the Steve Jobs photo): http://www.humyo.com/10177493/Apple%20iPad%20Camera/applekeyboard01271080.jpg

  • Anonymous

    This is just network greed. The all holy Nielsen ratings pay for the shows so anything online is money in the bank for the networks (shows don’t get any of it or credit for it as views). And they want to get as much as they can. They will claim that online will degrade ratings but in all the time that itunes and amazon have been offering shows, there’s been no conclusive proof that any drops were due to either service and not simply the shows being crap