HBO wants to put the Sopranos on your iPod

Posted:
in iPod + iTunes + AppleTV edited January 2014
Time Warner Inc.'s HBO cable network hopes to make a deal at some point with Apple Computer to deliver programming to the video iPod, the network's chief executive said on Thursday.



"I'm very excited by the video iPod," said Chris Albrecht during a press event at HBO's offices. "At some point, I think we would have some arrangement with them."



Albrecht's comments came as HBO and Cingular Wireless jointly announced a multiyear exclusive deal, where HBO will beam clips from its daily diet of programming -- include hit television shows like Curb Your Enthusiasm and the Sopranos -- to Cingular mobile phones.



HBO has also reportedly agreed to send Cingular customers exclusive clips of future hit shows.



Apple's iTunes music and video store offers customers the option of purchasing digital copies of some hit television series for $1.99 each. The store currently features shows from television networks ABC and NBC.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 28
    I hope Curb comes to iTunes. Man, that show is funny.
  • Reply 2 of 28
    don't forget to pester them networks to open up to other countries too. damn licensing....
  • Reply 3 of 28
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    But what does exclusive really mean?



    If it just refers to phone networks, fine. But it didn't actually say.



    And if they did a deal with Apple, would that be exclusive to the iPod rather than to any other portable video players?



    That's what we need to know.
  • Reply 4 of 28
    tenobelltenobell Posts: 7,014member
    HBO would be a real coup for iTunes. After HBO everyone else will fall in line.



    Sounds as though the exclusive deal with Cingular would be for clips of shows yet to broadcast in the future.



    A deal with Apple would be for shows that have already broadcast.
  • Reply 5 of 28
    a_greera_greer Posts: 4,594member
    HELL YES...HELL YES



    New theme



    "Woke up this morning

    and got yourself a 'pod"
  • Reply 6 of 28
    tenobelltenobell Posts: 7,014member
    The other part of it too.



    For much of the bellyaching about resolution and DRM, Apple is obviously doing something right. They are doing what no one else was able to do. Content providers are interested and becoming confident enough to talk and sign with iTunes.



    Once everyone can see this as a working business model that makes money for the content providers. Then they can begin to negotiate higher resolutions, allowing limited burning on DVD's and so on.
  • Reply 7 of 28
    macgregormacgregor Posts: 1,434member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by TenoBell

    The other part of it too.



    For much of the bellyaching about resolution and DRM, Apple is obviously doing something right. They are doing what no one else was able to do. Content providers are interested and becoming confident enough to talk and sign with iTunes.



    Once everyone can see this as a working business model that makes money for the content providers. Then they can begin to negotiate higher resolutions, allowing limited burning on DVD's and so on.




    Are current video-enabked iPods capable of being firmware upgraded to run higher res. or does that require upgraded hardware. I know the screen is obviously set, but output is important and viewing on Macs, too.
  • Reply 8 of 28
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by MacGregor

    Are current video-enabked iPods capable of being firmware upgraded to run higher res. or does that require upgraded hardware. I know the screen is obviously set, but output is important and viewing on Macs, too.



    Well, that's an interesting question.



    I say that because it will run higher rez files, but of course, can only show them at its native screen rez.



    I'm talking about the capability of running 480 x 480 MPEG 4 files. Now, those files don't have to be 480 x 480. Any combination that will result in the same number of pixels will be fine. 640 x 360 would be an example. The iPod changes the rez on the fly to view it.



    But it has to be in the proper file format for the iPod to use.



    The limitation is cpu bound.
  • Reply 9 of 28
    We have people with bluetooth headsets who look like crazy people talking to themselves.



    Then I thought people on airplanes watching hard R-rated movies on their laptops was innappropriate.



    Now we get people sitting on the subway watching the Sopranos on their mobile...

    "F** you! You F***n m*******g c*******r! You stupid #*!@#$ @$%%!@#"
  • Reply 10 of 28
    louzerlouzer Posts: 1,054member
    Great,more attempts to get me to spend money on media that I can do only one thing with, play on my Mac. Hey, how about letting me burn it to DVD???



    Or, i could just get HBO, TV everything, copy it to my mac, burn to DVD, and keep for good.
  • Reply 11 of 28
    eckingecking Posts: 1,588member
    When the hell is Canada gonna get these tv shows? Open the market internationally apple! And build more than 1 apple store here!
  • Reply 12 of 28
    The U.S. networks cannot, as yet, open up their shows internationally on iTMS but HBO probably could. And it would be a major financial bonanza for them
  • Reply 13 of 28
    eckingecking Posts: 1,588member
    Well right now only ABC and NBC are signed on to itunes and we have both those stations on basic cable I don't see what could be stopping them.
  • Reply 14 of 28
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ecking

    Well right now only ABC and NBC are signed on to itunes and we have both those stations on basic cable I don't see what could be stopping them.



    Money. Always money. Actors contracts, advertizing agreements, profit sharing between local stations and the network. I could go on from there.



    Do you think that Apple doesn't WANT to sell to everyone across the world?



    If Job's could snap his fingers, and all of a sudden, every file that he wants to sell became available, and everywhere around the world contracts were settled, he would have them up in a flash.
  • Reply 15 of 28
    hmurchisonhmurchison Posts: 12,419member
    Badda Bing!
  • Reply 16 of 28
    gongon Posts: 2,437member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by Unicron

    We have people with bluetooth headsets who look like crazy people talking to themselves.



    Then I thought people on airplanes watching hard R-rated movies on their laptops was innappropriate.



    Now we get people sitting on the subway watching the Sopranos on their mobile...

    "F** you! You F***n m*******g c*******r! You stupid #*!@#$ @$%%!@#"




    As long as people use headphones, why do you care what they're listening or watching? It isn't like we have holographic displays in mobile devices yet - if you see the picture, practically always you are trying to.
  • Reply 17 of 28
    rokrok Posts: 3,519member
    Quote:

    Originally posted by ecking

    When the hell is Canada gonna get these tv shows? Open the market internationally apple! And build more than 1 apple store here!



    seriously, the blame lies at home. during my short stint working with apple canada, in the days when everyone had an online apple store EXCEPT canada, everyone blamed apple. it's not apple's fault. canada, in its effort to keep from being utterly absorbed by the u.s. culture, has more import/export laws, rules and regulations as they apply to the u.s. than you can shake a stick at. for example, the online apple store? canada has a big problem with any company selling online to canadians from within canada without being 51% canadian-owned. i never got a clear answer why this was (i mean, you can buy from everywhere else, it seems, and just have it shipped... but canada is different somehow.) i'm not even sure how the heck apple got around this (or if they simply sell to canada and absorb whatever import/export tariffs that are applied through the cost markup. i am betting this is also why the itunes music store canada took such a long time to start up too. plus, there are issues with canada's version of the fcc (remember the 33% rule? where viewable content is supposed to be 33% canadian? i am guessing that has to fit in with the plan too).



    you would think acanada would be easy-peasy, but it's not. heck, they just finally overturned that whole "pre-tax cd-r's and ipods because we know you all are thieving thieves, you thieves" tax.
  • Reply 18 of 28
    aquaticaquatic Posts: 5,602member
    Yeah, now all we need is Curb, Ali G, and Sex and the City. Oh shit...did I say that out loud. Yeah, I watch it with my girlfriend all the time. AND I swear Carrie Bradshaw she eats so much but it's obvious Sara Jessica Parker works out, and Miranda, always working out, it's obvious she doesn't! UGH and then what Carrie wears sometimes! AND Miranda! Of course Charlotte always looks good and....yeah, I'm actually gay. I'm a married gay man.
  • Reply 19 of 28
    rokrok Posts: 3,519member
    i'd like episodes of arrested development on the store for download. fox may be less likely to cancel good shows if they're bringing in alternate value like that. then again, arrested development is one of those shows that i think benefits from dvd sets moreso than episodic tv. sure, there are situations that create the comedy, but the writers and ron howard set up jokes for WEEKS before they deliver the punchline. hell, my wife and i will laugh out loud at something and we'll note how they started that joke a MONTH ago. that's tough to follow on tv, but the commercial-less dvds are great.



    ah well, that's probably just me, though.
  • Reply 20 of 28
    Arrested Development is *the* funniest show on television. I just Fox would give it a chance. Seinfeld took about 4 seasons to take off. You would think Fox would know that a show needs some time. But I agree with rok about the DVDs, I'll hear punchlines from month old jokes regularly. It's really a show that needs to be on HBO.
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