Not surprisngly, not everyone is a fan of Apple’s recently announced $0.99 TV episode rental initiative. When Steve Jobs announced the initiative, the only networks on board were Fox and ABC, and it doesn’t look like Apple will be signing up many more big names anytime soon.
Not too long agon, Warner Brothers CEO Barry Meyer explained that his company didn’t ink a deal with Apple out of fear that lower pricepoints would have an adverse affect on sales of full season Television Shows. And now comes word via Reuters that NBC Universal isn’t too keen on the low pricepoints either. Shocking.
NBC Universal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker said on Wednesday his company is not likely to follow rivals to make its TV shows available for Apple’s new 99-cent rental service unveiled earlier this month.
Offering NBC’s shows for that price on the Apple TV service would undermine the value of their shows, he said.
“We do not think 99 cents is the right price point for our content. … We thought it would devalue our content,” Zucker said at a Goldman Sachs investor conference.
He pointed to the fact NBC shows are already available for $1.99 for download on Apple’s iTunes service.
Limiting consumer options. Always a solid strategy.
Wed, Sep 22, 2010
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