[opendtv] Re: News: TV Braces for the Apple Tablet

  • From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Wed, 27 Jan 2010 11:31:14 -0600

Craig Birkmaier posted:

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/446043-TV_Braces_for_the_Apple_Tablet.php?nid=2228&source=title&rid=5250536

TV Braces for the Apple Tablet
Will Apple's new device be a game-changer for the TV business?
By Claire Atkinson and Alex Weprin -- Broadcasting & Cable, 1/26/2010 7:21:22 
PM 

[ ... ]

TV in the Cloud

Reports of Apple's recent talks with CBS, Disney and other content companies 
have already fueled speculation about plans to launch a "best of TV" 
subscription service. An Apple pay-TV service, potentially featuring broadcast 
programming, would pose a dramatic challenge to incumbent providers and could 
upend the economics of program carriage. (See related: "What Would An Apple Pay 
TV Service Look Like?") 

But more recent reports that the company is looking to change its pricing of TV 
programs on iTunes have signaled a potential challenge to video streaming 
players like Hulu. 

The Apple TV device, unveiled in 2007, already connects consumers TV sets to 
the iTunes library of pay-per-download programs. But reports that Apple is 
talking to content providers about lowering the price from $1.99- to 99 
cents-per-show-beyond illustrating yet again the company's desire to force the 
entertainment industry to accept its model for online transactions-have played 
into speculation that the company wants to go head-to-head with YouTube and 
Hulu with a paid streaming service that could include live TV. (Hulu, a joint 
venture among NBC Universal, News Corp. and Disney, plans to announce 
subscription offerings this year.) 
----------------------------

Man, I just don't get it. What is so interesting about by-subscription-only 
access to TV programs on demand, over the Internet? Just that the name Apple is 
on it?

Those programs are already available from the CBS, Fox, ABC, etc. web sites for 
free. Why shouldn't 3G cell phones with web access be able to view them 
already? How is this any sort of revolution?

I chalk this up as another overballyhooed supposed "disruptive technology 
change," not unlike LTE and many other examples.

Bert
 
 
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