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.
The report cites some TV executives who describe Apple as “desperate” to find content for the iPad.
[Via AppleInsider and New York Times]
