Apple Inc. boss Steve Jobs may be used to calling the shots in almost every business venture he enters into, but in dealing with the entertainment industry he’s being forced to learn he can’t always get his way.
After trying for over a year to jam down the throats of studio executives the concept of selling cheap movie downloads via iTunes and having limited success, the notoriously inflexible tech titan is expected to change tactics and push low-cost rentals instead.
Apple is said to be close to announcing a deal with News Corp.’s 20th Century Fox about a rental download service that could be announced at the Macworld Conference on Jan. 15, if not sooner, and is actively talking to a number of other studios about the offering. (News Corp. also owns The Post).
It currently sells select movie titles from Disney, Paramount, Lionsgate and MGM.
At the same time, Jobs is receiving plenty of pushback from the once receptive music and TV industries, which are now working hard to build up iTunes alternatives because he won’t play ball on higher pricing and new bundling models.
Warner Music Group yesterday announced a deal to sell its music in the MP3 format through Amazon.com, joining Universal Music Group in bypassing iTunes when it comes to offering their songs free of digital-rights management.
And earlier this month NBC yanked TV hits like “The Office” and “Heroes” from iTunes in favor of Amazon and its own hulu.com service as part of a fight over pricing.
In each case, entertainment industry execs are looking to heap pressure on Apple by resisting participation in a priority iTunes initiative and hoping that Jobs blinks first.
While the jury is still out on how well the plan will fare in music and TV, the strategy appears to be working on the movie front, where, in a first, downloads will stop working after a limited amount of time.
Also, as part of the deal, future Fox DVD releases would reportedly come bundled with Apple software that would make it easy for users to rip the movie into iTunes – another potential first.
Both moves would represent a major capitulation on Jobs’ part.
Historically, Jobs has been resistant to the idea of rental models, preferring easier to understand and less tech nically complicated permanent ownership plans for music, movies and TV.
Likewise, Jobs has long resisted licensing Apple software to third parties for inclusion on music and movie releases.
However, the hope is that the studios, which have resisted selling movie downloads through iTunes out of concern of undercutting DVD sales and angering retail partners like Wal-Mart, will be more open to short-term rentals that wouldn’t directly compete with retail store sales.