Apple Plans To Give Away Original Content For Free To Device Owners as Part of New Digital TV Strategy, Report Says (cnbc.com)

Posted by msmash on Wednesday October 10, 2018 @08:37AM from the how-about-that dept.

Apple is planning a new digital video service that will provide original content free to its device owners, CNBC reported Wednesday. From the report: Apple is preparing a new digital video service that will marry original content and subscription services from legacy media companies, according to people familiar with the matter. Owners of Apple devices, such as the iPhone, iPad and Apple TV will find the still-in-the-works service in the pre-installed "TV" application, said the people, who asked not to be named because the details of the project are private. The product will include Apple-owned content, which will be free to Apple device owners, and subscription "channels" which will allow customers to sign up for online-only services, such as those from HBO and Starz. Apple plans to debut the revamped app early next year, the people said. As Bloomberg reported in May, the subscription channels will essentially copy Amazon's Prime Video Channel Subscriptions. Customers will be able to access all of their content from within the TV app so they won't need to download individual apps from multiple media providers.

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Re:The more things change the more they stay the s by Wycliffe · 2018-10-10 09:12 · Score: 3, Informative

So it's the over-the-air network TV model all over again.
The content was free then if I had the hardware ( TV and Rabbit ears)
No, the content was ad supported not free and you could get the hardware from anyone or even build it yourself with enough know how.
This on the other hand is an attempt at vendor lock-in. Basically, like Amazon and Netflix, if they can have some Apple exclusive hits then they are hoping that it will encourage people to own an Apple device. What Apple doesn't seem to realize is that even at $8/month there is a limit to the number of services a person is going to subscribe to and the more fragmented it becomes, the more likely people are just going to start pirating the shows they don't have access to especially if you have to have a multi hundred dollar device in order to access the show you want to watch.