I didn't have cable, and I loved being able to legally download my favorite shows without having to wait for them to come out on DVD (like I ultimately had to do with the Sopranos). I also appreciated the lack of commercials, which ruin the immersive quality of watching some shows, especially dramas. But it soon became annoying as my hard drive filled up, and I had to delete old episodes to make room for new ones. And it was lack of sports content that ultimately made me purchase a DirectTV/DVR subscription, so there's little reason to buy anymore from IMS.

HBO dramas, at least, tend to be longer than network shows because of the absence of commercial interruptions. And even though they cost the same to produce, most HBO dramas tend to run for only 12 or 13 episodes. So the higher price makes sense.

In fact, it may be a bargain. An entire season of the Sopranos on Apple would go for about $39. Compare that with $49 and up for the full DVD set on Amazon.

The quality of the content is a serious issue. NBC's lineup has not much stellar programming -- lots of reality shows, talk shows and a billion Law and Orders. 30 Rock and the Office might be their best bets, and I'd only pay $1.99 to see episodes of either. Maybe. As far as the reality $*** goes, NBC would have to pay me to watch it. I haven't watched an NBC program in years because they don't have the talent, so they don't deserve to charge exorbitant rates for their programming.

On the other hand, HBO is offering some seriously excellent programming: Rome and Deadwood were brilliant and both died far too soon; The Wire is excellent and apparently the other programs are very good, too. I paid more for the DVD versions of Rome's season one than HBO/Apple are charging. HBO recruits top-shelf talent in all aspects of production and it shows.

Apple's not stupid; they know gilt from gold and they usually follow the gold.

I'd gladly pay $2.99, even, for The Wire -- I think it's a superb show. The only problem I've got is that the way it's delivered via IMS means I won't be able to use close-caption and, when it comes to The Wire, I find it absolutely indispensable.

If you want to watch HBO's shows on cable, you have to pay for HBO. In my opinion, it's well worth it, since their programming is far better than most everything on broadcast or basic cable. So if people are willing to pay a premium for HBO on their TV, why not at the iTunes Store?

I hope this leads to more people discovering The Wire. That was the best show I've ever seen, anywhere.

They wanted Apple to institute tighter copyright controls, something Apple also resisted. After today's move, it seems Apple might have been willing to compromise on the price, but wasn't willing to screw up their user experience to pander to NBC's paranoia.

Microsoft on the other hand...

I can go into any Best Buy or Wal mart in this nation and see movies at price points of 5.00, 7.50, 13.99, 22.99, 35.99 and price points in between. But, Apple to this point thinks I might get confused that the new Lil Wayne single is not .99 the same as Hammer song from 92.

Why?

Why are the netwroks so over-the-top obsessed with forcing Apple to allow different prices?

Because once they get an inch....they'll take a mile!

Right now HBO managed to claw their way up $1.00.

One year from now it'll "make sense" that some other shows might obviously be "worth" $3.99. Some might be worth $4.99!

Once those higher prices become normalized EVERYONE will sell online content for the inflated price because, hey, that's what the market will bear, right?

Well, at leat the re-runs of older shows will be cheaper, right?

Bullshit.

If a "new" episode of the an HBO show sells for $4.99 (one year from now) then technically an old episode of the Sporanos will sell for the "lower" price of $2.99.

And then NBC will come back to iTunes selling their "new" shows for $4.99 and their "old" shows for $2.99.

Once they have the power to jack that price up then they'll have the ability to sell old shows for the "cheaper" price of $1.99 --- which is what everything (including NEW shows) is selling for right now on iTunes.

It's price creep. Slowly but surely EVERYTHING is going to creep up to the new normalized price of $3.99 for any content released in the last 9 months (new) and $2.99 for any content a year or more older (old).

Apple caved in and exactly one year from now almost all content on iTunes will sell for at least $1 more than it does now, most likely $2.

And then the music will start creeping up in cost too!

I'm a Comcast subscriber and NBC is the only network to charge a premium price for viewing their broadcast episodes On-Demand.

I already pay for cable and the box. I already pay for their station to be in my package. If I'm already paying for HBO, HBO doesn't tack on another buck to watch John Adams On- Demand. NBC charges me a buck to watch repeats of The Office.

Ergo, NBC blows.

Not when you're comparing it to DVDs. I don't even own a tv -- the few things I watch, I watch online. Occasionally, that means buying episodes from iTunes - including three seasons' worth of Battlestar Galactica. And I'm telling you...I wish I'd bought the DVDs instead, for what, ten dollars more? Low resolution, bad masking, bad cropping, seemingly randomized aspect ratios (widescreen, not widescreen, repeat)...frustrating, to say the least.

I also can't really see prices skyrocketing - and staying there. BitTorrent is less mysterious than ever to the GenPub, and if HBO or anybody else tries to push that ceiling to $4 or $5 an episode for a fifty-some-odd minute drama, what we'll be seeing is *not* a rise in profits for the offending network, but a rise in torrent downloads.

For people who don't have cable and want to watch episodes as they're released, sure, make them available online at pretty much the same per-episode price you'd pay with DVD...as long as they're of comparable quality. Most people aren't willing to pay a premium for crap.