Apple plans to cut the amount it charges to sell video services over its App Store, “a move to appease partners whose movies and TV shows are vital to the technology giant’s video strategy,” reports Bloomberg.
The Cupertino, California-based company intends to reduce the slice of revenue it is paid by subscription video streaming apps from the current 30% to 15%, the article adds, quoting unnamed “people familiar with the plans.” Other non-video apps see their bill from Apple halved from 30% only after a customer has completed a year’s subscription.
Bloomberg adds that Apple’s new TV app is part of the company’s effort to make its devices the hub for watching video by pooling television shows and movies from multiple apps in one place. The app provides one place to access TV shows and movies, as well as a place to discover new content to watch.
Features within the TV app include:
Watch Now: Watch Now is where viewers will see their collection of available shows and movies from iTunes and apps. From Watch Now, viewers can then go to Up Next or Recommended to choose what to watch.
Up Next: Users can enjoy the shows and movies they’re currently watching, including recent iTunes rentals and purchases — all presented in the order they’re most likely to watch first. For example, when viewers finish an episode, the next one will automatically appear at the start of the Up Next queue, as will any new episodes as they become available. At any time, users can ask Siri to continue watching a show and immediately pick up where they left off.
Recommended: Viewers can explore a selection of curated and trending shows and movies, including collections handpicked by Apple’s curators, and dedicated categories and genres such as kids, sci-fi and comedy.
Library: You can access your entire collection of iTunes movies and TV shows that you’ve rented or purchased on iTunes.
Store: If users are looking for something new, they can check out the Store to discover new content across video services that they’ve not yet downloaded or are not yet subscribed to, along with the latest releases on iTunes.
The TV app will be available for Apple TV, iPhone and iPad and always stays in sync so that when users begin watching on one device they can continue where they left off on their Apple devices.
In addition to the new app, customers in the US will have a simplified way of enjoying their pay-TV video apps by using single sign-on. Starting in December, subscribers to DIRECTV, DISH Network and more will just sign in once on Apple TV, iPhone and iPad to have immediate access to apps that are part of their pay-TV subscription.
The TV app and single sign-on will be available in December as free software updates for the fourth gen Apple TV, iPhone and iPad customers in the US. Live tune-in with Siri is available today.
