Apple slowly bringing HD shows to UK iTunes
Folks in the United Kingdom are finally finding some HD content in their iTunes store, but so far the selection is very limited.
They've been waiting since September when Apple chief executive Steve Jobs announced that HD TV shows were coming, only to find out later that the Brits would have to wait a bit longer.
As of press time, only ABC's hit series Lost is available in high definition, for £2.49 an episode (or £41.99 for the season pass), which is 17% premium compared to the standard $2.99 rates charged for HD downloads on the US version of the Apple digital download service.Â*Â*
On the series page forÂ*24, which is still in standard definition, one reviewer rated the series one star and wrote, "iTunes UK are seriously misguided if they think the price here represents good value for money.Â* It's considerably cheaper in the US and moreover they get it in HD."
Another wrote, "So our standard version is almost as much as the US HD version of the show (where is our HD version btw?)"
Meanwhile, popular BBC shows like Top Gear and are also still waiting for the HD treatment.
If readers from across the pond spot other shows being added in HD, please let us know in the forums.
They've been waiting since September when Apple chief executive Steve Jobs announced that HD TV shows were coming, only to find out later that the Brits would have to wait a bit longer.
As of press time, only ABC's hit series Lost is available in high definition, for £2.49 an episode (or £41.99 for the season pass), which is 17% premium compared to the standard $2.99 rates charged for HD downloads on the US version of the Apple digital download service.Â*Â*
On the series page forÂ*24, which is still in standard definition, one reviewer rated the series one star and wrote, "iTunes UK are seriously misguided if they think the price here represents good value for money.Â* It's considerably cheaper in the US and moreover they get it in HD."
Another wrote, "So our standard version is almost as much as the US HD version of the show (where is our HD version btw?)"
Meanwhile, popular BBC shows like Top Gear and are also still waiting for the HD treatment.
If readers from across the pond spot other shows being added in HD, please let us know in the forums.
Comments
Thanks
Don't remember where I heard it or what it really meant but I thought someone said that iTunes HD wasn't true HD. Is it true and if so what does it mean?
Thanks
I believe it is 720p, which is one of a few HD formats, while there are higher resolution formats, it's still HD. There's no such thing as "true HD", the range of quality can vary quite a bit since there is no standard bit rate.
Folks in the United Kingdom are finally finding some HD content in their iTunes store, but so far the selection is very limited.
Before anybody else craps on Apple or Steve Jobs, it is the networks that make the decisions what gets hosted.
Apple cannot just unilaterally post content and that goes for music as well.
Maybe in the next 10 years? Who knows...
/rant
I nevertheless think it is sad that EU regulators are so swift and interested in music and "Internet Explorer" but couldn't care less if their supposedly "unified EU market" doesn't work AT ALL as far as movies and video content in general are concerned.
Maybe in the next 10 years? Who knows...
/rant
Agreed. The only video content I can find on iTunes Belgium are video podcasts and Pixar shorts.
? I wish Tennant was staying on as The Doctor.
? Top Gear is my favourite show on either side of the Pond. The US version starts this year with Adam Corolla taking the lead role as brash Jeremey Clarkson-type host.
It's just Apple's way.
I certainly see no problem with differential pricing: taxes and billing practices vary in each country and there are exchange rate fluctuations that require coverage and additional costs.
But why does each country get a limited catalog? Who knows if I want to watch a German soap opera, a Chinese stamp collecting miniseries, or an American show about baseball cards from 1953, dubbed into Polish?
If iTunes and Apple TV is limited like cable, what's the point?
Apple should press hard for global licensing terms from content providers, and automatically distribute content though all the stores.
It's fairly unlikely that iTunes will get Dr Who in HD, given that the BBC makes it in SD.
Beat me to it.
--
I haven't bothered buying or renting any HD movies (ATV into a 26" TV at the moment) but there sure are a lot of "HD" tags on the interface!
has been for at LEAST the last month, so, it must be a SLOW news day!!
Star Trek TOS Re-mastered now THAT would be news!
Didn't Mr. Jobs promised rental of movies by end of calender 2008? Goodbye promise... Im still waiting for it, till then I wont buy an Apple TV.
Which country are you in? In the UK we have Movie rentals. I don't remember rentals being associated or promised for anything else.
• 17% isn't what I'd call considerably more expensive and certaiy not a deal breaker if you were already willing to pay the equivelant of $1.99 USD. [sic, it's actually $2.99]
Apple is probably just passing on the extra cost of doing business in the UK. It's not necessarily discrimination.
By my maths, using yesterday's exchange rate of 1.38265, the "premium" is more like 15.1%
Given that prices at the iTunes UK store include UK VAT of 15%, this seems entirely reasonable. Apple is charging exactly the same price as in the US.
Beat me to it.
--
I haven't bothered buying or renting any HD movies (ATV into a 26" TV at the moment) but there sure are a lot of "HD" tags on the interface!
has been for at LEAST the last month, so, it must be a SLOW news day!!
Star Trek TOS Re-mastered now THAT would be news!
Thanks for filling me in on Doctor Who being broadcast in SD. I'll fix it. And for the record, Top Gear is brilliant and one of my faves.
Given that prices at the iTunes UK store include UK VAT of 15%, this seems entirely reasonable. Apple is charging exactly the same price as in the US.
Exactly! How stupid are people? They always forget how much their government is taking...
And you can't compare licensing costs with an exchange rate, anyway. If anything, you need to compare them to the customers' purchasing power. It's not like they pay the labels in $. They pay the people in the UK that have the UK distribution rights in GBP. CD prices don't go up and down when the exchange rate changes, either.
Apple should press hard for global licensing terms from content providers, and automatically distribute content though all the stores.
While it would be great if Apple could do that, the content providers are reluctant since they don't want to step on their international deals for rebroadcast and DVD sales. They still make a decent amount of money from those and don't want to undercut them by having something available on iTunes first.
Don't remember where I heard it or what it really meant but I thought someone said that iTunes HD wasn't true HD. Is it true and if so what does it mean?
It is 720p at a kind of modest bitrate for the resolution, though sometimes it's better than cable or satellite, depending on circumstances. I think that qualifies as HD. Some companies are being overly broad with the HD term, it helps to take a look at what they mean. Sometimes it only means being better than the crap they had before. Sometimes 480p is called "HD".
As a representative of "the rest of the world" I would just like to point out that I'm still waiting for any non-music (or iPhone Apps) content to be available on iTunes Store. I don't blame Apple for that, but I nevertheless think it is sad that EU regulators are so swift and interested in music and "Internet Explorer" but couldn't care less if their supposedly "unified EU market" doesn't work AT ALL as far as movies and video content in general are concerned.
Maybe in the next 10 years? Who knows...
/rant
I don't see how the EU regulators would be stopping the apps.
But if the media companies still want to sublicense the rights by country, then that's their business, though doing so gets sillier as time goes on.
Isn't the whole point of the Internet that information flow around the world and through national barriers?
I certainly see no problem with differential pricing: taxes and billing practices vary in each country and there are exchange rate fluctuations that require coverage and additional costs.
But why does each country get a limited catalog? Who knows if I want to watch a German soap opera, a Chinese stamp collecting miniseries, or an American show about baseball cards from 1953, dubbed into Polish?
If iTunes and Apple TV is limited like cable, what's the point?
Apple should press hard for global licensing terms from content providers, and automatically distribute content though all the stores.
They should, but if the content providers have already provisioned and sold off those rights to other companies by country or such, then it doesn't matter. But that's less of an excuse as time goes on.