Apple's video service could sell networks like HBO & Showtime for $9.99 each

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in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV
Apple's "TV" app -- the locus of the video platform set to be announced on Monday -- may sell subscriptions to outside services like HBO and Showtime at a cost of $9.99 apiece, a report suggested on Sunday.

Real Time with Bill Maher


Networks including Starz, Showtime, and HBO have been "negotiating to offer their shows to users for $9.99 a month each," the Wall Street Journal said. That could potentially be a bargain, since HBO for example has been selling HBO Now subscriptions for $14.99 per month.

It's not yet clear which networks have signed on, but they could be counting on the exposure of Apple's service boosting subscriber numbers and compensating for any lost revenue.

An overhauled "TV" app could come to non-Apple platforms, including smart TVs and Roku streamers, Journal sources added. To date that app has been limited to iPhones, iPads, and Apple TVs, a situation that might not remain economical given that Apple's initial slate of shows will cost over $1 billion, never mind subsequent years. The company has also proven willing to break out of platform exclusivity when it counts, for example offering Apple Music on Android and iTunes video on Samsung TVs.

To support an Apple News subscription service, also due to be shown on Monday, that app will be getting a similar revamp, according to the Journal's sources. For $9.99 per month people will be able to access over 200 magazines like Bon Appetit, People, and Glamour, a lineup presumably identical to the one Apple has been offering through Texture. Newspapers such as the Journal will be onboard as well, though likely not the New York Times or Washington Post, which may have rejected rumored Apple demands for a 50/50 revenue split.

Highlighted news topics will reportedly be skewed towards politics, "lifestyle," and "general" news, downplaying subjects like business. In fact the Journal is hiring more general news reporters to back its Apple News content, one source claimed.

The paper lastly revealed that since late 2017, Apple CEO Tim Cook has been hosting monthly meetings in which a services team pinpoints apps that "benefit and threaten" the company. This includes creating a "release radar" for Cook, illustrating titles likely to sell well and metrics for ones that pose competition. Developers have regularly accused Apple of stacking the deck in its favor, for instance blocking some apps seen as "duplicating" native iOS functions.

Spotify recently launched a European complaint in which it pointed out that Apple Music has the dual advantages of exclusive integration across Apple platforms and keeping 100 percent of App Store revenue. If Spotify were to reintroduce in-app subscriptions, it would have to share 30 percent of revenue from new Premium customers, and 15 percent from everyone subscribed for over a year.

AppleInsider will be live from Monday's event, which begins at 10 a.m. Pacific time or 1 p.m. Eastern.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 21
    Where’s Disney?

    Personally - I’m not a fan of Disney - but they certainly have a truck load of content.


  • Reply 2 of 21
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Where’s Disney?

    Personally - I’m not a fan of Disney - but they certainly have a truck load of content.


    They’re about to launch their own streaming service (called “Disney+“). Highly doubtful any Disney content will appear on the Apple video service, with the distant possibility of the shows that just left Netflix appearing there?
    doozydozen
  • Reply 3 of 21
    Makes ZERO sense whatsoever. These services don’t have enough to offer at the prices they already demand, nor at $9.99. 

    $9.99 for HBO + Starz + Showtime would be reasonable and compelling. 

    This, however, is laughable and makes tomorrow seem like it’s shaping up to fall flat on its face. And frankly I hope it does. Apple is in a delusional place these days. 
    larryamac_dogtrashman69deminsd
  • Reply 4 of 21
    Where’s Disney?

    Personally - I’m not a fan of Disney - but they certainly have a truck load of content.


    Meh. Most of it you likely already own if you wanted it to begin with. They’re nuts to be launching their own service. 
  • Reply 5 of 21
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,834member
    Makes ZERO sense whatsoever. These services don’t have enough to offer at the prices they already demand, nor at $9.99. 

    $9.99 for HBO + Starz + Showtime would be reasonable and compelling. 

    This, however, is laughable and makes tomorrow seem like it’s shaping up to fall flat on its face. And frankly I hope it does. Apple is in a delusional place these days. 
    You‘re nuts. I and millions others will sign up for HBO next month — as Game of Thrones returns. The beauty of these services is you can turn them on and off. 

    But you hate everything Apple does, got it. Fail, Appe, fail. Yada, yada. Yawn. 
    edited March 2019 mwhiteronndoozydozenboltsfan17
  • Reply 6 of 21
    22july201322july2013 Posts: 3,564member
    People are already making their conclusions about the Apple services even though they haven't been announced. That's the same kind of presumptiveness as those who predicted the results of the Mueller report before it came out. And, as with that report, there should be a little bit of spin possible by either side once the news comes out.
    mwhiteracoleman29ronn
  • Reply 7 of 21
    macseekermacseeker Posts: 544member
    The prices are way too high.  It's in the cable price range.
    Metriacanthosaurus
  • Reply 8 of 21
    chasmchasm Posts: 3,273member
    1. $10/month with no ongoing commitment (quit/resume whenever) is a bargain compared to what you would pay for their standalone streamer offering.
    2. It's even more of a bargain compared to what cable subscribers pay to add these premium services to their cable TV package (often quite a bit more than $15/month).
    3. The point the trolls keep missing is that Apple and specifically Tim were right -- the future of TV is apps/streaming services with no ongoing commitment. It's not quite "a la carte" just yet but it is getting there, and that's a huge good for consumers.
    4. Depending on your tastes and how much of a slave to TV you are, you could subscribe to one of these premium-cable channels ($10), one "genre" service with a bunch of stuff you like ($8-10), and throw in Netflix ($12) AND Amazon Prime ($10) for their excellent original shows and other stuff, and have more TV than you could possibly watch, on demand, for WAY less than what most people pay for cable.

    This is all based on what the WSJ has mooted, so I won't know if this is accurate until tomorrow, but going with the assumption that this is roughly correct, this would work out as not a lot more than I'm paying for my high-speed internet subscription alone, with more content/benefits and less filler.
  • Reply 9 of 21
    davgregdavgreg Posts: 1,036member
    Where’s Disney?

    Personally - I’m not a fan of Disney - but they certainly have a truck load of content.


    Disney is developing it’s own branded service, already has an espn sub service and now has majority control of Hulu. When they bought the Fox studios, they also got Fox’s share of Hulu.

    Disney is pulling its content from competing services like Netflix as contracts expire.
    doozydozen
  • Reply 10 of 21
    fallenjtfallenjt Posts: 4,053member
    My DirecTV Now’s $40-Go Big package offers HBO for free. Now, with single sign-on capability, I’m good!
    edited March 2019
  • Reply 11 of 21
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    fallenjt said:
    My DirecTV Now’s $40-Go Big package offers HBO for free. Now, with single sign-on capability, I’m good!
    HBO free? I did not know that. Maybe worth a look. 
  • Reply 12 of 21
    technotechno Posts: 737member
    "...the locus..." Trying to be all schooly on us.
  • Reply 13 of 21
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    techno said:
    "...the locus..." Trying to be all schooly on us.
    That's one I had to look up too. Personally I appreciate those. 
  • Reply 14 of 21
    deminsddeminsd Posts: 143member
    Makes ZERO sense whatsoever. These services don’t have enough to offer at the prices they already demand, nor at $9.99. 

    $9.99 for HBO + Starz + Showtime would be reasonable and compelling. 

    This, however, is laughable and makes tomorrow seem like it’s shaping up to fall flat on its face. And frankly I hope it does. Apple is in a delusional place these days. 
    You‘re nuts. I and millions others will sign up for HBO next month — as Game of Thrones returns. The beauty of these services is you can turn them on and off. 

    But you hate everything Apple does, got it. Fail, Appe, fail. Yada, yada. Yawn. 
    Actually, he is not nuts.  So you pay for HBO for 2 months so you can watch what is probably the only content worth anything on that network, then cancel?  Why, then, would Apple do this?  So people can pay for 2 months, then nothing for 10 months?  I don't believe that is what Apple has in mind.  They want 12 months.  And at those prices, it's no value, but then, is anything from Apple really a good value?  This new "offering" from Apple is just way #38 to get HBO/Showtime/Starz.   
    edited March 2019 Metriacanthosaurus
  • Reply 15 of 21
    bigtdsbigtds Posts: 167member
    fallenjt said:
    My DirecTV Now’s $40-Go Big package offers HBO for free. Now, with single sign-on capability, I’m good!
    Except that they've taken away many of the other channels they use to offer. Almost all Discovery channels are gone with the new package change. Thankfully, I'm grandfathered in for now under the old package. I'll gladly pay the $5 extra for HBO. If they ever force me into the new package, I'm gone.
  • Reply 16 of 21
    Makes ZERO sense whatsoever. These services don’t have enough to offer at the prices they already demand, nor at $9.99. 

    $9.99 for HBO + Starz + Showtime would be reasonable and compelling. 

    This, however, is laughable and makes tomorrow seem like it’s shaping up to fall flat on its face. And frankly I hope it does. Apple is in a delusional place these days. 
    You‘re nuts. I and millions others will sign up for HBO next month — as Game of Thrones returns. The beauty of these services is you can turn them on and off. 

    But you hate everything Apple does, got it. Fail, Appe, fail. Yada, yada. Yawn. 
    That is certainly not the beauty of these services. If the model revolves around them being turned on and off, that's a joke. No one wants to deal with that. And you're confirming my point by saying you're going to turn it off (because it isn't worth anywhere near what they ask) once the show you care about is done airing for the season.

    These services are hurting big time from subscription fatigue. It was one thing when people had just Netflix for $7.99/month and got tons of content. Now people are expected to pony up $10-15 month per service for a half a dozen services and growing. This isn't what anyone bargained for in the streaming VOD era, and has gotten completely out of control due to the ceaseless greed of content owners.

    What Apple should be doing is looking for a way to use its prowess as a platform to subsidize all of this content so that ends users can get them at a reasonable price...a price that is compelling and that actually competes with piracy...just like they did with Music many many years ago.

    And my consternation toward Apple is a new development, borne out of their indefensible pricing strategies of late. No one has defended Apple harder than I, maybe you should get a clue before writing things off as generic Apple hate.

    edited March 2019
  • Reply 17 of 21
    canukstormcanukstorm Posts: 2,694member
    Where’s Disney?

    Personally - I’m not a fan of Disney - but they certainly have a truck load of content.


    Meh. Most of it you likely already own if you wanted it to begin with. They’re nuts to be launching their own service. 
    Why? They are well-recognized global brand
  • Reply 18 of 21
    bshankbshank Posts: 255member
    fallenjt said:
    My DirecTV Now’s $40-Go Big package offers HBO for free. Now, with single sign-on capability, I’m good!
    It’s ending soon. New packages coming out DTVNow subscribers will be shoehorned into
  • Reply 19 of 21
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,176member
    bshank said:
    fallenjt said:
    My DirecTV Now’s $40-Go Big package offers HBO for free. Now, with single sign-on capability, I’m good!
    It’s ending soon. New packages coming out DTVNow subscribers will be shoehorned into
    Yeah, I took a gander and it's now $50 for a package that includes HBO. So $10 more, which makes sense. 
  • Reply 20 of 21
    Where’s Disney?

    Personally - I’m not a fan of Disney - but they certainly have a truck load of content.


    Meh. Most of it you likely already own if you wanted it to begin with. They’re nuts to be launching their own service. 
    Why? They are well-recognized global brand
    But why male models? No seriously I just said it. Most people already own the Disney content they want. A streaming service does nothing but give them a way to further rape people's wallets for mediocre new content that will be exclusive to their platform instead of available on actual established platforms that people already pay for.

    This is the new norm. We don't update products anymore. We don't add new value to existing services. We just create new products, or new services, for the 1 new thing we're doing this week, and charge more for it. It is a joke. Don't fall for it.
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