Apple TV+ May Support Downloads for Offline Viewing, Limit Simultaneous Streams

[SDJim]

no chance

the chord cutters are already starting to see the main issue. youre going to end up paying more than you were for cable

I don't know a single cord cutter who is paying more than they were with cable. Just last month I convinced my landlord to cancel the cable ($130/mo.) and pay for Playstation Vue instead ($55/mo.). They already had internet, Netflix, and Hulu, so the only change is a new platform and an extra $75 in their pocket every month.

 

[Rob_2811]

You are an unabashed crazy Apple supporter at times. Netflix should start worrying? Their shows are some of the only ones nominated for Emmy’s and to win. Not even Amazon or Hulu have reached their heights and they’ve been to market for years. At times Netflix has traded higher than Disney itself and is worth over $140b.
.

Agree with your general sentiment but the bold bit is incorrect. Amazon won several Emmys and two Golden Globes for Marvelous Mrs Maisel and they bagged two Oscars for Manchester by the Sea. The Handmaids Tale won Hulu 8 Emmys. Netflix was first though in 2013.

You shouldn't pay too much attention to the usual cheerleaders on here, they were predicting Spotifys imminent doom when Apple Music launched. That was four years ago and Apple Music still has half the amount of paying subscribers.

 

[harriska2]

We use Amazon, Netflix, and aerial TV for a total cost of $75 a month including high speed internet. We are never in need of something really, really good to watch like BBC shows, Amazon or Netflix originals, or back library stuff. We adore many shows that are foreign (3%, Rain, Dicte, the Returned, etc).

 

[gibbz]

Apple *will* support offline viewing. They said so themselves in March.

See 1:37:12.

"It's on-demand. Available online and offline. Everything is downloadable."

 

[JuicelessMango]

I don't know a single cord cutter who is paying more than they were with cable. Just last month I convinced my landlord to cancel the cable ($130/mo.) and pay for Playstation Vue instead ($55/mo.). They already had internet, Netflix, and Hulu, so the only change is a new platform and an extra $75 in their pocket every month.

I cut the cord about 6 months ago and was the best decision I ever made. My DirectTV Now bill is no where close to being as outrageous as my Cox Communications bill was. Love that extra $ in my pocket every month.

 

[ErikGrim]

Apple *will* support offline viewing. They said so themselves in March.

See 1:37:12.

"It's on-demand. Available online and offline. Everything is downloadable."

Yeah, I was confused about this news item too. Did we all forget that they straight up told us it would support downloads?

 

[PickUrPoison]

Netflix saw this day coming way back which is why they started pouring billions into Netflix Originals, so that they too could have a library of exclusive back content. They were pretty successful with Stranger Things and Black Mirror becoming cultural hits in of themselves.

Apple has deeper pockets though. It has given them a direct link to very well connected TV industry leaders and talent. I can already spot some of Apple's shows that have a high potential of becoming so talked about that even people outside of Apple's ecosystem will subscribe.

This is why I think that Apple will bundle Music + TV under a single $9.99 subscription. AppleMusic has always been about selling more iPhones (and now Watches + AirPods). TV however, doesn't have the same hardware sales potential since most people aren't going to sit watching TV on their iPhones for hours. Sure, it might sell an iPad or two but it's certainly not going to make Apple a ton of money selling AppleTV boxes.

Apple has deliberately freed AppleTV (the app) from AppleTV (the hardware), making it as widely available through third party TVs and media boxes as possible. By bundling TV with Music, Apple would succeed at their first goal: tying people into Apple Music which in turn leads to selling more iPhones, Apple's moneymaker.

I’m not sure they’re going to give TV+ away free with Apple Music, I guess it’s possible. But I also don’t think it’s going to be $10/mo for a few originals. It seems like they’d have to have third party content to warrant that price.

With Disney and all their content at $6-7, I don’t see how Apple can get $10 for relatively little content. Maybe $4-5, or bundled with Apple Music for maybe $13.

 

[danny842003]

Lol, a few Emmy's doesn't fix their debt or profitability problems.

Most Netflix content watched is licensed, fact. Once they lose more content like The Office and Friends (5% of all watched hours on the platform) they will be in trouble.

Netflix already had to raise money and will likely need to again. The valuation is insane in comparison to Disney and was only based on speculation the future would be brighter. That valuation is starting to fall and Disney is now worth over $100B more than Netflix.

You are an unabashed Apple hater. Apple has money which is what you need in content to create or acquire. Netflix’s biggest problem is they don’t have enough money or profitability. $1B in profit per year is practically nothing for a company with their valuation.

Netflix survives elsewhere without friends why can’t it in America?

 

[Baymowe335]

Netflix survives elsewhere without friends why can’t it in America?

It’s the fact they lost friends that matters. Other popular licensed content will leave when it makes sense to be on its own platform. Everyone will have a streaming service. Best content wins. Netflix has very little non licensed good content.

 

[danny842003]

It’s the fact they lost friends that matters. Other popular licensed content will leave when it makes sense to be on its own platform. Everyone will have a streaming service. Best content wins. Netflix has very little non licensed good content.

Personally I think people hate on Netflix’s own content without giving a lot of it a go. I watch more original content than anything else.
I’m also not convinced losing Friends is such a big deal. Yes it maybe one of the most watched shows but from personal experience friends is more something I have on in the background rather than something I sit down to deliberately watch. Many people could substitute friends with anything else.

 

[ipedro]

I’m not sure they’re going to give TV+ away free with Apple Music, I guess it’s possible. But I also don’t think it’s going to be $10/mo for a few originals. It seems like they’d have to have third party content to warrant that price.

With Disney and all their content at $6-7, I don’t see how Apple can get $10 for relatively little content. Maybe $4-5, or bundled with Apple Music for maybe $13.

Apple already stated that TV+ is Apple’s originals home. It’s how they’ll set their standard of quality for television. Everything on AppleTV+ will have gone through Apple’s TV production department. Everything else will be available through Channels.

I guess Apple could offer a number of Channels with an AppleTV+ subscription but it doesn’t seem like that from the subscription structure they set up for Channels.

Further, as I outlined in my post, AppleTV isn’t going to be effective at selling hardware. AppleTV’s have a tiny margin and iPhones aren’t primary TV watching devices. Apple Music, on the other hand does sell hardware: Apple Music subscribers are statistically overwhelmingly iPhone users. They also buy AppleWatches and AirPods.

Bundling TV with Music makes the most sense from a strategy perspective and it fits everything they’ve done up to this point. It could be that the price is slightly more for TV+Music but then it wouldn’t compete directly with Spotify like they need to if they want Apple Music to become the market leader.

 

[Rob_2811]

Lol, a few Emmy's doesn't fix their debt or profitability problems.

Most Netflix content watched is licensed, fact. Once they lose more content like The Office and Friends (5% of all watched hours on the platform) they will be in trouble.

Netflix already had to raise money and will likely need to again. The valuation is insane in comparison to Disney and was only based on speculation the future would be brighter. That valuation is starting to fall and Disney is now worth over $100B more than Netflix.

You are an unabashed Apple hater. Apple has money which is what you need in content to create or acquire. Netflix’s biggest problem is they don’t have enough money or profitability. $1B in profit per year is practically nothing for a company with their valuation.

There are 194 countries outside of the United States and Netflix operates in 190 of them. Its a large and influential market but the world doesn't start and end with the US.

Netflix has lost Friends in the US but in a lot of other markets it is still available on Netflix. The US Office has never been available on Netflix here in the UK, Amazon Prime Video have the rights here. Some of the services Netflix is losing content to might not be available outside the US in the short term either, the HBO streaming products have never been available here in the UK and even Disney Plus isn't going to be here at launch, so again this is less of an issue for them outside the US.

Netflix UK recently released a top ten list of their most streamed show and four of the ten were their original content including the two most popular (Stranger Things and Orange is the new Black). They have proven that they can produce original content that people will watch so I think they'll be ok.

Sure profitability is a factor but the same old arguments were trotted out in 2015 for Apple Music v Spotify. How is Spotify doing now? Its the most popular music streaming service in the world with around double the amount of paying customers of its nearest rival. It isn't going anywhere any time soon.

Its getting more competitive for Netflix as more competitors enter the VOD market but that was always going to happen same as it was for Spotify in music streaming. These video on demand services will just co exist with some doing better than others in the same way the music services do. I'm not sure why people are so obsessed with one of them taking out the others.
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It’s the fact they lost friends that matters. Other popular licensed content will leave when it makes sense to be on its own platform. Everyone will have a streaming service. Best content wins. Netflix has very little non licensed good content.

See above this really isn't true. You might not like it but people are watching it.

 

[Alan Gordon]

Good start. Among the reasons you cannot know is that you have no idea what the service will actually be nor what its price will be. You have heard some rumors about the price, and have seen some announcements and trailers for some content. Maybe the shows they have discussed are all the shows they have, and maybe the rumored pricing is exactly correct. Neither you nor any of the other commentators on here know for sure.

I never claimed to.

I am glad that you are so confident of their plans, that you know they do not have enough content. I will wait until they announce their plans and pricing. They may launch with many other shows and movies from other studios or they may only launch with only the few shows and films about which we have already heard and nothing more from their $6 billion.

Or maybe after they actually announce the details of the service. Who knows, maybe they have thought of some of these issues themselves.

I never claimed to be confident of their plans.

Part of me still thinks that it won't be the $9.99 price tag, or it'll be available bundled with other services for free or a less expensive charge.

I'm also open to the idea that they will have additional licensed content, but I'm unsure of what that licensed content might be.

Disney seems to be migrating most of their content from Netflix to Disney+ and Hulu, which will most likely be the home of Fox content as well. WB seems to have plans to migrate most of their content to the upcoming HBO Max, and Universal seems to have plans to migrate their content to their upcoming streaming service. Paramount's content will probably migrate to CBS All Access, leaving only Sony and Lionsgate among the bigger content owners. Lionsgate could have made a deal with Apple, and Apple will more than likely have a bigger catalog by the time that contract runs out, even if CBS buys Lionsgate and wants their content for CBS All Access.

Sony's an interesting possibility. I haven't thought of them.

We know A24 has a development deal with Apple, but they have a pretty limited catalog. Ditto for STX.

I don't know. As I stated, I never claimed to know. I just know that the rumored $9.99 seems to be a bit steep for me personally. I look forward to seeing what they do.

 

[Alan Gordon]

Still wondering if there will be a way to watch AppleTV on a Mac? The current generation doesn't use TVs very often, so the laptop is the TV.

Provided you have macOS Catalina coming this Fall, you will be able to watch the content on the TV app.

 

[Alan Gordon]

Personally I think people hate on Netflix’s own content without giving a lot of it a go. I watch more original content than anything else.
I’m also not convinced losing Friends is such a big deal. Yes it maybe one of the most watched shows but from personal experience friends is more something I have on in the background rather than something I sit down to deliberately watch. Many people could substitute friends with anything else.

I'm not one of those people that thinks Netflix is doomed, but I do think they will have to rethink their subscription prices (like including 4K in a lower cost plan) over the next few years to compete better.

It's not just "Friends" or "The Office" (US), but content from Disney, WB, etc., so they will have to rely more on independent content to compliment their original content.

 

[CordovaLark]

That or Apple should have purchased Pluto TV which was free and streamed TV, and movies all the time. Apple could have built their ecosystem around that while adding new features never mind the fact it is available on Amazon, Roku etc.

 

[PickUrPoison]

That or Apple should have purchased Pluto TV which was free and streamed TV, and movies all the time. Apple could have built their ecosystem around that while adding new features never mind the fact it is available on Amazon, Roku etc.

Apple doesn’t/didn’t need to buy Pluto TV, all of that content is available to whomever pays to license it.

 

[Alan Wynn]

Part of me still thinks that it won't be the $9.99 price tag, or it'll be available bundled with other services for free or a less expensive charge.

All are certainly possible. I would expect that there will be an option for customers to just purchase the service by itself, even if there is a more attractive bundle. My basis for that guess is the inclusion of the TV app on some other TV platforms. That indicates that they want to be able to sell this content to people outside the ecosystem. Or not. :-D

I'm also open to the idea that they will have additional licensed content, but I'm unsure of what that licensed content might be.

Here is where I think many people may be making a mistake.

Disney seems to be migrating most of their content from Netflix to Disney+ and Hulu, which will most likely be the home of Fox content as well. WB seems to have plans to migrate most of their content to the upcoming HBO Max, and Universal seems to have plans to migrate their content to their upcoming streaming service. Paramount's content will probably migrate to CBS All Access, leaving only Sony and Lionsgate among the bigger content owners. Lionsgate could have made a deal with Apple, and Apple will more than likely have a bigger catalog by the time that contract runs out, even if CBS buys Lionsgate and wants their content for CBS All Access.

Apple has been working on this deal for a long time. It is certainly possible that some of their deals for content pre-date AT&T’s acquisition of Warner and Disney’s acquisition of Fox. They would also pre-date the not even approved Paramount CBS deal.

In addition, while Disney, Warner and CBS all have incentives to pull much of their content into their own services, they also have incentives to license some of it to others, as it will make them more money. No matter how much content they each have, there is a limit as to how much people will pay for a service. Let us speculate that is something under $20 a month. That means that no matter how much content each service has, they will not get more than that max price from a customer. Now if they determine that they need to have 500 films, and 2,000 TV episodes (numbers picked at random) to get people to subscribe, then if they have 1,000 films and 4,000 TV episodes, they are not getting anything extra for the extra 500 films and 2,000 TV episodes. On the other hand, if they chose to license some of those films or shows to another service, they would be getting 100% of their customer revenue and some percentage of one or more other services revenue. Not sure that is what they are going to do (they can be very dumb sometimes) but it would certainly make sense. :-(

Sony's an interesting possibility. I haven't thought of them.

A24, Annapurna Pictures, Dreamworks Pictures, MGM, Lionsgate/Summit, Skydance, United Artists, and many others do not have deals (and all have varying ownership deals with their distributor). In addition, Apple is rumored to have spent $6 billion. Their feature film budgets are rumored to be between $3 million and $30 million. That could mean as many as 100 films out of that number (figuring a 50/50 TV to feature split and an average $30 million budget) All of this could mean a pretty substantial library of content.

We know A24 has a development deal with Apple, but they have a pretty limited catalog. Ditto for STX.

These and many others.

I don't know. As I stated, I never claimed to know. I just know that the rumored $9.99 seems to be a bit steep for me personally. I look forward to seeing what they do.

My point was not that you were unique in speculating, but that everyone on this thread who is responding as if they know all the details, based on a few trailers and leaks. Your comments were more reasonable then many, but my point was that responding to rumors as if they were fact and the limited number of trailers as if that was all that they will have, is taking a big risk.

 

[Alan Gordon]

All are certainly possible. I would expect that there will be an option for customers to just purchase the service by itself, even if there is a more attractive bundle. My basis for that guess is the inclusion of the TV app on some other TV platforms. That indicates that they want to be able to sell this content to people outside the ecosystem. Or not. :-D

Yes, but the TV app will also allow you to purchase their "Channels" as well.

Apple has been working on this deal for a long time. It is certainly possible that some of their deals for content pre-date AT&T’s acquisition of Warner and Disney’s acquisition of Fox. They would also pre-date the not even approved Paramount CBS deal.

In addition, while Disney, Warner and CBS all have incentives to pull much of their content into their own services, they also have incentives to license some of it to others, as it will make them more money. No matter how much content they each have, there is a limit as to how much people will pay for a service. Let us speculate that is something under $20 a month. That means that no matter how much content each service has, they will not get more than that max price from a customer. Now if they determine that they need to have 500 films, and 2,000 TV episodes (numbers picked at random) to get people to subscribe, then if they have 1,000 films and 4,000 TV episodes, they are not getting anything extra for the extra 500 films and 2,000 TV episodes. On the other hand, if they chose to license some of those films or shows to another service, they would be getting 100% of their customer revenue and some percentage of one or more other services revenue. Not sure that is what they are going to do (they can be very dumb sometimes) but it would certainly make sense. :-(

One can look at services like VUDU who offers free ad-supported movies and TV shows with licensed content from Warner Bros., Sony, Paramount, Lionsgate, and more. Apple could easily do the same ad-free, but I really don't see this being a huge selling point. Apple could offer 4K streaming of this content (when available), which is more than one can say about VUDU, and even Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu for that matter.

My point was not that you were unique in speculating, but that everyone on this thread who is responding as if they know all the details, based on a few trailers and leaks. Your comments were more reasonable then many, but my point was that responding to rumors as if they were fact and the limited number of trailers as if that was all that they will have, is taking a big risk.

My argument is that I don't think I insinuated that the rumors were fact.

I stated that while I'm interested in multiple announced "original" projects by Apple, I personally find the $9.99 price point (yes, a rumored price point) to be too high for that amount of content at this time. Even if the service adds catalog content from many of the studios you mentioned, or a spattering of content from some of the major studios, or both, I don't find my interest to be enough to get me interested at that (rumored) price point. $4.99, I might subscribe, but $9.99 might be a two or three month subscription per year until they get more original content available, and then I'll reconsider.

 

[gadgetfreak98]

I know this thread is a bit dormant... But it is as close as I can find to the right place...

My issue is that I have hit the limit on HBO downloads via my Apple TV app on my phone and iPad. So I followed the instructions and deleted an episode to free up a slot for another. No success... Still get the error about being at the limit. Deleted all episodes everywhere. Still, the same error.

Spoke to Apple. No help. "It's an HBO issue." Spoke with HBO Now tech support: "it's an apple issue" and they had no clue what Apple TV Channels were. I emailed the HBO Go tech support email (they have no phone). Auto reply directed me back to Apple.

Anyone else encounter this issue? If so, is it resolved and how? Thanks!

 

[PinkyMacGodess]

I know this thread is a bit dormant... But it is as close as I can find to the right place...

My issue is that I have hit the limit on HBO downloads via my Apple TV app on my phone and iPad. So I followed the instructions and deleted an episode to free up a slot for another. No success... Still get the error about being at the limit. Deleted all episodes everywhere. Still, the same error.

Spoke to Apple. No help. "It's an HBO issue." Spoke with HBO Now tech support: "it's an apple issue" and they had no clue what Apple TV Channels were. I emailed the HBO Go tech support email (they have no phone). Auto reply directed me back to Apple.

Anyone else encounter this issue? If so, is it resolved and how? Thanks!

I remember an issue like this a few years ago before I shut my company down. I was in a pickle, with a company who wrote a vertical app, and Microsoft. The vertical app company diagnosed the issues as far as they could, and then said 'It's Microsoft's problem'. So I called Microsoft, and got the 'Yeah, we get this all the time. It's actually the way they x.' So I ask what to do. The agent says he had an idea. He wanted me to call him, and then conference them into the conversation.

SOOOO...

The next day I called 'Mr Microsoft', and then when I got him, told him who I was talking to their, and then added the 'engineer' from the vertical app. After he took the call, he said that he was surprised to hear from me, and wondered why I called again. I said 'Well, I have 'Mr Microsoft', and he has some questions for you.'

Well, we got moved up to second level, which had been denied to me every other time I called. The two of them got into it, the second level engineer and another of their engineers were call in too. In about a half hour or so, they decided on a solution. So, the moral of the story, DO NOT GIVE UP! DO NOT GIVE IN! And if needed, do the video conference trick!

As an side, I got a message that the vertical app engineer 'wasn't supposed to talk to 'third party' engineers, but this one was great because it helped them deal with a few other clients with the same issue'. My eyes couldn't roll enough for that.

But anyway, this could have been the beer talking. I was pleased with myself. Hearing the two 'engineers' talking dirty...

I hated the 'finger pointing' crap. FIX THE PROBLEM! Good grief... ?

 

[gadgetfreak98]

I know this thread is a bit dormant... But it is as close as I can find to the right place...

My issue is that I have hit the limit on HBO downloads via my Apple TV app on my phone and iPad. So I followed the instructions and deleted an episode to free up a slot for another. No success... Still get the error about being at the limit. Deleted all episodes everywhere. Still, the same error.

Spoke to Apple. No help. "It's an HBO issue." Spoke with HBO Now tech support: "it's an apple issue" and they had no clue what Apple TV Channels were. I emailed the HBO Go tech support email (they have no phone). Auto reply directed me back to Apple.

Anyone else encounter this issue? If so, is it resolved and how? Thanks!

Just as a follow up, I ended up opening the Apple TV + app on every device in our household to confirm no other downloads. That was confirmed. There were none on any device. But perhaps that also triggered something on either Apple's or HBO's tracking system, and with that I was able to once again download. HBO is way more restrictive than Netflix or Amazon -- so I don't think you could download a full season of anything -- but it's way better than nothing, particularly for someone who does a lot of subway commuting.

No idea if this solution is effective for others -- or if there are even others out there who had this issue. But I'm back in the downloading fold again...