Apple’s iTunes Pitch: TV for $30 a Month
Would you pay $30 a month to watch TV via iTunes?
That’s the pitch Apple has been making to TV networks in recent weeks. The company is trying to round up support for a monthly subscription service that would deliver TV programs via its multimedia software.
Apple isn’t tying the proposed service to a specific piece of hardware, like its underwhelming Apple TV box, or its long-rumored tablet/slate device. Instead, it is presenting the offer as an extension of its iTunes software, which already has a huge installed base: A year ago, Apple said it had 65 million iTunes customer accounts.
A so-called “over the top” service could theoretically rival the ones most consumers already buy from cable TV operators — if Apple is able to get enough buy-in from broadcast and cable TV programmers.
YES YES YES
Apple made me happy to pay for music, rather than steal, it by providing good quality audio files at an affordable price, with a simple purchase interface and fast downloads.
I have been waiting for them to do the same with TV. So far, I have found TV shows on the iTunes store to be too costly, especially when I could watch most of the shows for free on my TV, even at my own schedule with my DVR. Because I like the convenience of a downloaded show (to put it on my iPhone, for example), I have been using, shall we say, and alternative download method. I have not felt guilty about it because I could watch all the shows on my TV anyway. It didn't seem like stealing because I had full access to the content and all the download was doing was saving me the work of creating the video file myself.
That said, for a reasonable price, I would be happy to pay for an official download that would, presumably, get some money into the pockets of the people who make the show's that I like. If I am not going to be a Nielsen Family, at least I can support my shows with my wallet.
So, the short version... A reasonable price (which $30/month is to me) would absolutely get me to subscribe to my shows on iTunes rather then less, er, um, legal sites.
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