Fox to offer TV downloads on MySpace

A correction was made to this story. Read below for details.

Fox Entertainment Group is planning to distribute movies and TV shows to consumers from the company's network of Internet sites, including MySpace.com.

Fox, a division of News Corp., announced Monday that digital versions of TV shows such as "24" and "Prison Break," along with feature films, including "X-Men: The Last Stand," will eventually be available for download at Fox sites. Movies will go for $19.99, while TV episodes will cost $1.99.

The move is the latest sign that Hollywood studios are determined not to allow Apple Computer as much control over distribution digital content as the music industry handed over to Apple's music download site, iTunes. Apple has emerged as the gatekeeper when it comes to digital music, selling more songs than any other Web site. Movie and TV executives have said that they want a host of e-tailers offering their content.

Warner Bros. Entertainment has been among the most aggressive of the studios in the pursuit of such a strategy. In recent months, the company cut distribution deals with video-sharing site Guba and file-sharing system BitTorrent.

Apple already offers some Fox TV shows, but they can be watched only on Apple handheld products such as the iPod. In what Fox claims is an industry first, customers will be able to download a TV show or movie to two Windows-based computers, where each can then transfer the content to a single handheld device.

Fox's IGN Entertainment, which makes video games available for download, is providing the distribution platform for all of Fox's sites, and will also offer the first download, on the IGN's Direct2Drive Web site, sometime in October, Fox said in a statement.

The company did not disclose when its other sites will begin selling digital content.

 

Correction: This story incorrectly stated that Apple's iTunes offers downloads to Apple products exclusively. The music site is also compatible with Windows-based PCs.

[mdmalin]

You don't need a Mac

The article says you need to have an Apple product to view Fox
content from iTunes. That is just plain wrong. iTunes runs on
Macs and PCs, which is how Apple manages to dominate with the
music downloads.

How can a tech website make such a baldfaced error?

[CoderForChrist]

Can't use Linux...

While iTunes runs on Mac and PC, it is true that you must use iTunes to play the videos/music. And, since Apple doesn't make a Linux version, and since they take pains to make sure any third-party app doesn't work, I'm stuck finding somewhere else to get music.

[qazwiz]

the confusion comes from Apple's exclusive to iPod

while you can dl to windows based computers, the files are of a propriatary nature that can only allow iPods to accept them on portables

so YES Apple restricts you from DLing to non-apple PORTABLES

C-Net should have added the single word,making the statement true, instead of deleting the whole sentence

[mdmalin]

Mac not required

The article says you need to have an Apple product to view Fox
content from iTunes. That is just plain wrong. iTunes runs on
Macs and PCs, which is how Apple manages to dominate with the
music downloads.

How can a tech website make such a baldfaced error?

[scotty321--2008]

Mac is not required

The person who wrote this story is an idiot. You don't need a Mac
to watch TV shows downloaded from iTunes.

[Pope Zaphod]

iTunes runs on Windows, Macs

Whoever wrote this article needs to get his facts straight. iTunes is available for both Windows and Macs. Video purchased through the iTunes Music Store is viewable within iTunes or on a video iPod.

I do thinks Apple should develop a Linux version of iTunes. Seems kind of obvious for a company that used to "think different".

[mavlast]

Windows only?

Not only can iTunes content be viewed on both a Mac and PC
using iTunes, it can be authorized for viewing on up to 5
machines at a time.

This article suggests that Fox's digital video content will be
available for download onto 2 Windows-based machines. Does
that mean it will only be playable on 2 Windows-based
computers? If so, how is that better than Apple's iTunes
offering? Whilst it may be advantageous to play Fox's media on
portable devices other than the iPod, Fox and the music and TV
executives obviously don't feel the need to cater for those of us
using Mac OS X; 4% of the market still equates to millions of
users. I don't see that as an "industry first".

[spacydog]

Apple handheld products

The article was referring to handheld products made by Apple, aka ipods, due to their DRM. Stop reading too much into these articles.

[mavlast]

The article has been corrected

Originally the article stated that iTunes music could only be played
on Apple iPods *and machines*. It has now been corrected.

[JoeCrow]

This is one phat Dotso.com story ...

Seems everyone is hungry for this today. Channels are loaded on dotso.com with rants about said article ... IMHO