Today at 10am PT, Apple will be holding a special event at the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino. Much speculation is that the event will announce a news subscription service, as well as their highly-anticipated TV and Film streaming service.
Since last Spring, there have been reports that Apple has been working on an Amazon Channels competitor that will allow you to use your Apple credentials to subscribe and pay for premium subscriptions.
While we learned that Netflix (and likely Hulu) weren’t going to be a part of the service, it was confirmed that Showtime and STARZ would. The big unknown was whether HBO would reach a deal with Apple ahead of the announcement.
According to a report in Recode, “HBO signed a deal with Apple over the weekend, so they will be a part of the announcement. In a surprising report from the Wall Street Journal yesterday, they indicated that Apple has been negotiating with HBO, Showtime, and Starz to bring the premium networks to the service for only $9.99 a month each.
Given that HBO ($15), Showtime ($11), and Starz ($9) are offered at widely different prices, it seems that they would likely have to be bundled to get down to that rate. If Apple is willing to take a lower cut on the bundle, it seems that they would be able to offer a more compelling price than what you can get from the services directly, or marketplaces like Amazon Channels or The Roku Channel.
| DTV STREAM | Fubo | Hulu | Philo | Sling TV | YouTube | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Trial | Free Trial | Free Trial | Free Trial | Get 50% Off | Sign Up | |||
| $79.99 | $91.99 | $76.99 | $25 | $40 | $40 | $72.99 | ||
| HBO | + $15 | - | + $15 | - | - | - | + $16 | |
| Parmount+ with SHOWTIME | + $11 | + $11 | + $11 | - | + $10 | + $10 | + $11 | |
| Starz | + $11 | + $10 | + $9 | + $9 | + $9 | + $9 | + $9 | |