HBO enters iTunes but with varied prices for content

Michael Gartenberg | May 13, 2008, 07:39 AM

Today's story in the NY Times is accurate, there is indeed variable pricing in the iTunes Store with the addition of HBO content.

It's an interesting twist the iTunes story but not all that surprising. We've already seen signs of this coming. First, new release movies are priced differently from back catalog titles and HD rentals cost more than SD ones. For a time, non DRM content also carried a premium. Audiobooks are also priced across the board.

In the end, it's more important for Apple to make sure there's first class content available for consumers who purchase devices as part of the iTunes eco system, including buyers of Apple TV, iPod and iPhone. While uniform pricing made good sense in the early days of the iTunes store to simplify the experience, the reality is some content is worth more than other content, both to the content holders and the consumers. We'll likely see more of these types of deals in the future and Apple's flexibility with HBO bodes well for a return of NBC Universal content in the not too distant future.