Sure, Fox may have shown up late to the iTunes party, but they’re bringing chips, an entree and chocolatey brownies. Rupert Murdoch’s empire launches a multi-prong assault on downloadable media: not only do the offerings include the current seasons of FOX hits 24 and Prison Break, but they’ve also added older 20th Century Fox productions like Firefly (the complete series) and Buffy: The Vampire Slayer (season 1), as well as shows from Fox’s cable networks, such as FX’s The Shield.
To be honest with you, I still haven’t downloaded any TV shows from iTMS, but I’m becoming constantly more tempted. Having the latest season of The Shield available is of particular interest, as otherwise I have to wait for the season 5 DVD set, which hasn’t even been announced yet.
With FOX’s appearance, the only broadcast networks missing from iTMS are CBS (who launched their own download service, innertube, last week), and the soon-to-merge WB and UPN networks, who will be at least partially owned by CBS. Will Les Moonves’s networks eschew the iTMS shindig in favor of their own little sandbox, or will they cave to the pressure of Monsieur Jobs?
CBS should worry. I checked out their InnerTube content and its only short clips of interviews...interlaced with ads, ads and more ads. Not too awe-inspiring and they are probably barking up the wrong tree.
I bet WB and UPN will be in both iTMS and Innertube, then when they realize iTMS is selling 10x as much WB/UPN content as innertube is, CBS will join iTMS and eventually shut up innertube.