Study Says No Future for Video iTunes

eldavojohn writes "Reuters is running a story on a study that claims "Online video sites that sell shows and movies such as Apple Inc.'s iTunes will likely peak this year as more programming is made available on free outlets supported by advertising." Many channels have wised up to offering their content hosted from their own sites for free — with commercials — to cut out iTunes as the middle man. End result? Predictions that services like iTunes-Video have no future."

Re:It worked for radio & music too

[AKAImBatman]

Have you seen the videos on NBC.com? The difference between the NBC.com videos and iTunes videos is like night and day. I'm probably one of the least picky people about my video quality, but even I think that NBC.com looks significantly worse than your average CRT television. It reminds me of watching television with rabbit ears, only worse.

Re:It worked for radio & music too

[peragrin]

If a dedicated server setup like Itunes can't keep up with the quality what makes you think comedy Central or NBC can? I purchase shows from iTunes whenever I miss an episode in a story arc. The end display quality is usually better than what I can record on my computer directly from the TV broadcast.

HD content though can only be done with HD, and therefore is worse than regular broadcasts

Re:I don't think so

[jZnat]

Technically most DVDs have DRM on them, but CSS (what it's called) was so fundamentally flawed and insecure that it doesn't mean shit nowadays. The DRM on HDDVD and Blue-Ray are also going down this path once again, and Hollywood is fighting to stop it once again.

Really, the only way to get DRM-free digital video (on TV; when it comes to the internet, there's plenty more sources) legally is via OTA content with a digital antenna.

Re:I have to agree

[mkiwi]

For those not doing the math, at 24 episodes/season thats roughly $50 per season.

If you plan to watch the entire season, I suggest you buy the "Season Pass," which is significantly cheaper than buying all the episodes one by one. It's your money, if iTunes offers a cheaper way and you've been spending your money badly, that is certainly not Apple's fault.