TVSquad

In a few weeks you might be able to download your favorite HBO series from iTunes. Apple is in talks with the cable network to sell HBO movies and programs on the iTunes Store website. Different rumors are circulating about the deal, but it appears that HBO stands to profit more than other networks have from their iTunes arrangements.

One possible aspect of the deal is "flexible pricing" for HBO content. Single episodes could cost more than the standard $1.99. It's also possible that that price will remain the same, but that HBO will get a larger percentage of the per-episode profits.

While the window between a movie's theatrical release and DVD release has continued to shrink over the years, it's taken a while for the major studios to creep into the 21st century and offer digital downlaod options at all. Now that you can get most major releases from iTunes, Amazon Unbox, and other online stores, it looks like Apple has turned its atention toward the next digital divide: The length ot fime betwen a DVD release and iTunes releases. Today the company announced partnerhips with a whole slew of movie studios to release videos to iTunes customers the same day as the DVD release.

Participating studios include Fox, Disney, Warner Brothers, Paramount, Universal, Sony, Lionsgate, Image, and First Look. Apple says this week you'll be able to pick up American Gangster, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly as well as existing titless. The press release doesn't make it clear whether the simultaneous release applies to $2.99 movie rentals or just $14.99 movie purchases.

If history has taught us anything, it's that while Apple may be the first company to announce the news, we suspect the studios will be working with other online video distributors to enable simultaneous release dates soon.

[via TUAW]

I haven't gotten into iTunes video yet. My iTunes music file keeps getting fatter and fatter, but I haven't done anything with video yet. I'm content with buying DVDs and using YouTube and AOL TV for my video needs. But if more stuff like this gets put on iTunes, I might change my mind.

Stephen J. Cannell is starting to put his shows on the music/video service. Granted, the first batch of shows aren't anything I'm interested in (the list includes Hunter, Silk Stalkings, Wiseguy, and 21 Jump Street, with a young Johnny Depp), but I do hope it's successful so we'll see more of the Cannell shows that I'm interested in (though if I'm really interested in them, I probably already own the DVDs). This promises to be just the first group of shows, with more to follow later this year.

One show I do like watching again that is included in this batch is The Greatest American Hero. After the jump, the catchy theme song to the William Katt/Robert Culp/Connie Sellecca series from the 80s.

As if we haven't heard this song a bajillion times already...

According to Pitchfork, Feist has recorded a special version of "1234" to air on an upcoming episode of Sesame Street. Someone want to explain this to me? Is it simply because the lyrics have numbers in them and by default it must be educational for small children? One quick glance at the words and it seems like the song is all about teenage love and how much it sucks. Is this really a song you want your toddler bopping around to?

Although, I suppose it doesn't really matter. That Apple iPod commercial that popularized the tune was on TV, oh I dunno, only every 4.3 seconds. I'm sure Steve Jobs is salivating at this news, armed with a business plan to release the brand new iPod Jr. around the same time. I hear it comes with a built in sippy cup!

[via Pop Candy]

So you've blown all your laundry money on TV shows from the iTunes store, because paying for a complete season at a timed seemed like a better bargain than paying $1.99 per episode. But what happens when a season is cut short due to oh, say a television writer's strike. Apple is sending out letters to customers who have purchased season passes to shows with truncated seasons, outlining the steps the company will take to keep its paying customers from revolting:

• Even if the season should have ended now, any additional episodes that are still part of the current season will be made available to customers as soon as Apple gets them
  
• If there are ultimately fewer episodes in the season than originally planned, customers will get a partial refund
• At least some customers are getting credits which can be used to buy any two TV shows, music videos, or short films from the iTunes Store

All of this sounds like good news for iTunes users. But I honestly think it would have been bigger news if Apple had decided to stiff their customers.

Is it really a big surprise that television advertising isn't as effective as it used to be? As TV watchers -- okay, we're uber-watchers -- we know that with DVRs and TiVos we're zooming through ads, or we're channel surfing in between segments of our favorite shows, or renting/buying content in formats that allow us to avoid commercials altogether. Now, according to the Association of National Advertisers and Forrester Research's TV & Technology Survey, we learn that six out of 10 marketers believe that TV advertising has become less effective in the past two years. And it's getting worse.

Lost is perhaps the ultimate in TV fiction. The storytelling is the stuff of vivid imaginations and it's gotten millions watching and wondering and tuning in for more. Of course, in the midst of all that fantasy, some things we've taken as fact, like most of the technology. For instance, I don't know about you, but I believed those satellite phones they've been using since Naomi parachuted onto the island last season were the real thing. Well, guess what, it's no more of a reality than Mr. Spock's tricorder on Star Trek!

You can call it the beginning of a beautiful relationship, or it may seem like a license to print money, but any way you view it, today's announcement that Apple will be the signature sponsor for Fox's American Idol -- that Apple will have exclusive audio and video performance download rights for AI -- is huge. The deal, effective immediately, ensures that all Idol performance downloads will now only be available on Apple's iTunes store. In addition, iTunes will sponsor online streaming of contestant performances on the official American Idol web site. Each and every time you click on the AI site, you'll see links for iPods and iTouches and iPhones, all the cool players and gadgets that Apple sells. And every time you click on the Apple site, you'll see links to Idol.

The BBC may be preparing to distribute some of its more popular programs via Apple's iTunes store. The Register is reporting that details on the partnership could be announced as soon as Tuesday.

UK residents can already watch a number of BBC shows online using the iPlayer service, which lets users watch any show that's been broadcast within the last 7 days for free. But the iPlayer is only available to British residents who pay for the BBC's programming with their taxes. Outside of the UK, you have to pay if you want your Doctor Who.

It's not clear right now whether any shows the BBC distributes via iTunes will be available outside of Britan or not. Apple charges UK customers £1.89 to download a television episode, which is almost $2 more than the $1.99 US customers pay. So while it's possible the BBC won't want to sell its content at the lower prices, some money is better than no money, right?

Update: It looks like BBC content is now available at the UK iTunes store, but not the US store.

Apple has finally gotten around to issuing its promised software update for the Apple TV set top box. The biggest change is that users will now be able to download videos from the iTunes store using their Apple TV, no computer necessary. And since Apple also recently launched video rentals, that means you buy or rent movies or TV shows without leaving your house, or your couch.

Users can also view online photos from .Mac and Flickr pages. You can check out your own images or pictures shared by your friends and contacts. You can also listen to music while you play a photo slideshow.

[via TUAW]

Flash developer Paul Yanez either has way too much time on his hands, or he really doesn't like the way web video is presented. Yanez has already made browser-based versions of online video services like Joost and Babelgum. And he developed an Apple Front Row-like Flash application for watching streaming video from sites including YouTube, MySpace, and Heavy.

Now he's back with Hulu Media Player, a new approach toward watching videos from online video site Hulu. Like OpenHulu and TV Paradise, Hulu Media Player lets users without Hulu beta accounts watch TV shows and Movies hosted by the service. But unlike other sites, Hulu Media Player doesn't require you to use a mouse and keyboard to search for content from NBC and Fox. All you need is a mouse (although we'd really prefer keyboard shortcuts).

The media player looks a lot like Apple's Front Row interface. When you hit the "show guide" button you get a list of available TV shows. Click on one to bring up a list of episodes available for viewing. Right now only a small portion of the Hulu library is available, but there's still probably more worth watching on Hulu Media Player than there is on TV tonight. Hulu Media Player is still a work in progress. Several times when we clicked on an episode, a different episode began playing. But at least it was from the correct TV series.

According to Engadget, the relationship between NBC and Apple seems on the mend. This is a far friendlier state than their previous corporate catfight, which involved NBC Universal's CEO Jeff Zucker saying Apple destroyed the music business while Apple CEO Steve Jobs accusing NBC of doubling its price for online content.

I never thought that their silly name-calling would last when there was money to be made. NBC has the content and Apple has the means of delivery with iTunes. The motivation of mutual profit can end any argument. This has been proven time and again in the entertainment industry when people say "those two will never work together" and are repeatedly proven wrong.

Within a year, I suspect you'll be able to download shows such as 30 Rock and The Office from iTunes (for a fee, of course) and watch them on the go. Until then, don't forget to set your Tivo.

If there's one thing I love more than the ability to watch TV shows online it's the ability to watch them on my TV. So while it's great that the BBC's iPlayer service lets UK viewers catch up on shows they've missed over the week using their computers, I'm pretty excited to hear that the broadcasting service is looking at ways to get the software onto set top boxes.

BBC Future Media and Technology Director Ashley Highfield writes on his blog that the BBC is encouraged by this week's announcement that Apple TV users will be able to download content directly to their set top boxes, no computer required. It's probably safe to say the BBC will be in touch with Apple soon.

But Highfield says the BBC is also looking into other ways to get content onto the TV, such as the Xbox 360 or the Neuros OSD. So far, the iPlayer service has only been available to UK viewers. But as the BBC expands the service, I'm holding out hope that they'll offer up a subscription or pay-per-download version for viewers in the rest of the world.

[via last100]

Steve Jobs, for a lot of us, is kind of like Chuck Norris, except all the things that Chuck can supposedly do... well, Steve can actually do them. This is a man who once beat Magnus ver Magnusson in an arm-wrestling match with his left hand while designing a new iPod Nano with his right. The man's got game.

That being said, even he admitted yesterday during his Macworld keynote speech that the original Apple TV was kind of a flop. It was pricey and clumsy and not very popular at all. Yesterday's announcement of Apple TV (take two) acknowledged the flaws of the first machine and promised to make things right for consumers.

A few weeks ago a limited number of Netflix customers started getting emails letting them know they could watch as many videos as they'd like online using the "watch instantly" button next to selected items in their queue. Now Netflix has gone and made and made it official. Almost all Netflix subscribers can watch as many online videos per month as they want.

Previously the DVD rental service only allowed users to watch a limited number of hours per month based on their subscription rate. For example if you've got the $18/month Netflix plan, you were able to watch 18 hours of online video per month.

If you're a subscriber at the lowest level, paying just $4.99/month to rent up to two DVDs per month, you'll find you can still only watch a few hours of video. The change comes in advance of Macworld, where Apple is widely expected to announce a new iTunes video rental option. Will the move give Netflix an upper hand? Probably not, but it may be enough to at least keep Netflix in the game.

[via paidcontent]