Getting with the programs
The folks at Apple Inc. are seemingly trying to drum up more business for their per-episode downloads of television programming. The New York Times reported today that Apple is close to a deal with CBS to cut the price of some of the network’s shows roughly in half — from $1.99 to 99 cents — in the iTunes Store. There aren't any specifics yet about what shows will have their prices slashed, but it's looking as if the network is ready to do some experimenting with Apple.
The story says the less-than-a-dollar price could be the key to growing Apple’s business as an on-demand, pay-as-you-go source for popular TV programs. The 99-cent price proved very successful for the Apple iTunes Store's music offerings; downloads are nearing 10 billion. (The lucky person deemed to download song number 10 billion will get a $10,000 iTunes gift card. Sweet.)
Apple added video downloads to its popular online store in 2005, and about 375 million episodes have been downloaded since then, according to the story.
I think Apple is wise to drive as much publicity and traffic to its store, as more than 125 million customers have credit cards on file and are just a click or two away from buying more. The launch of Apple’s new iPad tablet computer at the end of March will be watched by several factions of the entertainment world. Will the sleek device, which is not much more than an oversized iPod Touch in pre-release versions, become the de facto media player for a generation of "I'll watch what I want to watch, when I want to watch it" customers?
Stay tuned. Things are sure to get more interesting.
Read The New York Times’ story here:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/22/business/media/22itunes.html?ref=business
