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iPod TV Show Rentals?
- Thread starter billabong
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I really wish this were an option. I don't want to own a TV show, I just want to watch it once, generally because I missed it on TV. I really thought Steve was going to announce it while I watched the keynote, but sadly no.
The TV shows that I buy are episodes that I really like and would want to watch over and over again. This is like saying would you like to rent music videos. Besides they're only $2 an episode.
$2 an episode adds up pretty darn quick. Plus, I don't want to have a library full of non-tangible TV shows. Clutters up iTunes, fills my HDD, etc. There are two things I'm waiting for:
1) TV show rental subscriptions on iTunes from most major networks. I can't always stay up for Conan or be around a TV when Battlestar Galactica comes on, but I would jump on the chance to arrange a rental subscription for these shows and have them downloaded to my iPod the next morning after original broadcast. And give me more than 24 hrs to watch them before they expire (maybe 72 hrs is okay.. life happens, don't make me piss away an episode because I need to hit pause).
2) More encoded iTunes/iPod compatible files on DVDs bought for movies/TV shows a la Fox is doing with Family Guy. What a brilliant move. Not only do I get a physical media format I can play on my big TV but I can choose to import it into iTunes and watch it mobile as well. I'm not sure how copyright works with this but whatever. I don't care. Tie it down to 5 machines if you must but this is the only way I want to buy movies or TV shows.
Movie rentals I'm fairly happy with. I don't care about HD quality b/c so far I'm doing everything through the computer or iPod. The price is a bit high and the viewing time (the 24 hr rule) is a bit low but I can deal with it. TV shows need to come online though this is probably a holdup on the studios' ends. With the 32GB Touch out now I'm sure this will come to fruition soon. H.264 SHOULD stimulate some sort of standardization of formats so this isn't an Apple only thing that the studios are doing.
Otherwise, I'm REALLY tempted to start stripping my DVDs of their copyright protection and compressing them for iPod-friendly sizes/format. But I'm an honest guy... let's keep it that way.
Speaking of all this, does anyone know if the Touch still has screen issues? Now that the new software is included and capacity is up, I'd like to get one.
1) TV show rental subscriptions on iTunes from most major networks. I can't always stay up for Conan or be around a TV when Battlestar Galactica comes on, but I would jump on the chance to arrange a rental subscription for these shows and have them downloaded to my iPod the next morning after original broadcast. And give me more than 24 hrs to watch them before they expire (maybe 72 hrs is okay.. life happens, don't make me piss away an episode because I need to hit pause).
2) More encoded iTunes/iPod compatible files on DVDs bought for movies/TV shows a la Fox is doing with Family Guy. What a brilliant move. Not only do I get a physical media format I can play on my big TV but I can choose to import it into iTunes and watch it mobile as well. I'm not sure how copyright works with this but whatever. I don't care. Tie it down to 5 machines if you must but this is the only way I want to buy movies or TV shows.
Movie rentals I'm fairly happy with. I don't care about HD quality b/c so far I'm doing everything through the computer or iPod. The price is a bit high and the viewing time (the 24 hr rule) is a bit low but I can deal with it. TV shows need to come online though this is probably a holdup on the studios' ends. With the 32GB Touch out now I'm sure this will come to fruition soon. H.264 SHOULD stimulate some sort of standardization of formats so this isn't an Apple only thing that the studios are doing.
Otherwise, I'm REALLY tempted to start stripping my DVDs of their copyright protection and compressing them for iPod-friendly sizes/format. But I'm an honest guy... let's keep it that way.
Speaking of all this, does anyone know if the Touch still has screen issues? Now that the new software is included and capacity is up, I'd like to get one.
I would spend a lot more money in the iTMS if they had TV show rentals. I cant justify $2 an episode when I know I'm going to watch it once and then let it take up space on my hard drive. If it was .49-.99 then it would be much more appealing to me.
Music videos are different though. I only buy the ones i really like, and watch those multiple times....I do wish that you would get the song along with the music video so I don't have to purchase the song as well.
Music videos are different though. I only buy the ones i really like, and watch those multiple times....I do wish that you would get the song along with the music video so I don't have to purchase the song as well.
I have a feeling that they'd get into trouble with cable companies pretty quickly with TV show rentals since they'd basically be offering á la carte cable programming where you only "rent" the shows you want to watch. I could probably take my cable bill down to about $20 a month just to get only the shows we want to watch, which would pay for an 
TV pretty quickly.
I'm actually surprised that the premium channels offer some of their programs. I had HBO for years just to watch Six Feet Under. If I could have bought the eps on iTunes I would have saved quite a bit of money... (I do realize that HBO and Six Feet Under are not on iTunes but Showtime is).
TV pretty quickly. I'm actually surprised that the premium channels offer some of their programs. I had HBO for years just to watch Six Feet Under. If I could have bought the eps on iTunes I would have saved quite a bit of money... (I do realize that HBO and Six Feet Under are not on iTunes but Showtime is).
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With regards to the original posters question-apple will never rent TV shows-they would actually lose money because people would just rent episodes that they missed-then get the DVD version-I doubt that Apple would allow for rental and purchasing of TV shows.
But if you want to watch several seasons then it gets pricy. This could be apple's way of proving the uselessness of having cable over
tvMovies and t.v. seasons are both on dvds. I don't see the problem with renting a season for the cost of buying a movie.
$10 movie (buy) $3 movie (rent)
$30 t.v. (buy) $10 t.v. (rent)
They did it with movies, so I think the transition to t.v. won't kill em.
$10 movie (buy) $3 movie (rent)
$30 t.v. (buy) $10 t.v. (rent)
They did it with movies, so I think the transition to t.v. won't kill em.
Only if the price is right ... like, flat rate price per month. I would pay $10 a month for unlimited rentals of TV shows. Anything more, then no too expensive.
I have a feeling that they'd get into trouble with cable companies pretty quickly with TV show rentals since they'd basically be offering á la carte cable programming where you only "rent" the shows you want to watch. I could probably take my cable bill down to about $20 a month just to get only the shows we want to watch, which would pay for an
I'm actually surprised that the premium channels offer some of their programs. I had HBO for years just to watch Six Feet Under. If I could have bought the eps on iTunes I would have saved quite a bit of money... (I do realize that HBO and Six Feet Under are not on iTunes but Showtime is).
See? Now you're getting it.
IPTV. Subscription TV. Why would Paramount bow down to Cox cable? Paramount could go to Apple as a distributor, just like all the other cable companies, and the consumer could choose a la carte.
Me likey that idea.
Everything is going that way soon. It's just whether or not Apple will be the one to do it. iTunes would be a great litmus test for the whole idea. You'd still be paying for the shows, the only difference is that you'd be chosing the time of day that you consume it.