Apple Sells 200 Million TV Shows

Maybe it’s more than a hobby. Apple has announced that over the past three years, Apple has sold 200 million TV show episodes. Silicon Alley Insider estimates that the majority of sales went to NBC and Disney, given that NBC trumpeted its sales volume during the Apple-NBC fiasco and that Disney has already said out loud that they’ve sold 40 to 50 million shows in the iTunes Store.

Does this mean anything? “Not much, really,” the report said. “Video sales on iTunes have grown much more slowly than music sales did, and they’re not nearly as significant for the networks and studios. If you assume that each of those 200 million went for $1.99, and that the networks/studios keep about 70% of each sale, you’re looking at about $280 million in 36 months. NBC Universal, meanwhile, just recorded $645 million in profit in the last quarter.

“Still, that $280 million is almost all profit for Hollywood,” the report continued. “And given that the ad business is going to be in the dumps for quite some time, it’s certainly nice to have additional revenue streams. Now you see why Jeff Zucker [NBC's CEO] was willing to make peace with Steve Jobs this summer.”

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