It is being reported that HBO and Apple are finishing up negotiations to bring HBO’s premium content to Apple’s online music store-iTunes.
This only makes sense… But Apple should be careful.
This is a wonderful and potentially highly-profitable partnership for both companies. HBO has the ability to sell it’s content to people who would otherwise not have access to it. And Apple is continuing to increase it’s stranglehold on the media/content delivery industry.
While many positives can be assessed from this situation, Apple must be very careful when changing it’s policies for specific content or new partners.
NBC completely pulled it’s content from iTunes because Apple refused to sell their content for more than $1.99 per piece of video from NBC.
So, it seems as though Apple could be back-peddling trying to get premium content sold through the iTunes store to make up for the lack of shows like “The Office.”
Either way, Apple needs to walk carefully, moves like this may open up a slew of other content providers demanding higher pricing and specific needs for premium shows. And this would be a very sticky situation for Apple to deal with if they want iTunes to remain on top of the digital industry as it is now.
2 Comments to “HBO coming to iTunes ?”
I think HBO and iTunes has been a long time coming. I really do.
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In general, people pay a premium for channels such as HBO. If anything, I think HBO and cable service providers have more to worry about as it could eventually take subscribers from the premium cable channels and have them simply purchase the shows they religiously watch directly from iTunes. No longer is there a need to pay for movies and television shows you have no intention of ever watching. Therefore I think it would be legitimate to charge a higher price for their television shows (for HBO to make up for lost revenue due to fewer subscribers). In NBC’s case, their service is technically free (with it being basic cable) therefore $1.99 for a show you simply missed, seems resonable.
Either way, Apple and iTunes are winners in this situation…The image of both companies blend beautifully and I can only hope the deal goes through.
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