• by Doug Chavez , Columnist, March 12, 2015

It seems that each week of this year we see and hear news about the colliding and fast-evolving spaces within the entertainment world. This week was no different. And while much of entertainment and tech news this week focused on the débutante ball for the Apple Watch, for those listening to the other news from the Apple event, there was a significant product update for Apple TV.

First, Apple announced a price drop for AppleTV, going from $99 to $69. As if consumers needed another reason to accelerate their cord-cutting from cable and satellite providers. Second was more news, and music to consumers’ insatiable appetite for video content on Apple TV and their other iOS devices. HBO was on hand at the event to announce the launch of HBO Now, which will launch exclusively on Apple TV, iPad and iPhone. Again, this is great news for consumers and a seismic shift for the cable and satellite operators that once held all the keys to access. 

Apple cutting the price on Apple TV is somewhat of a no-brainer move to drive further adoption of Apple products and bring more homes onto the iTunes platform to create even stronger iTunes Store recurring revenue for Apple and their content partners. It will also drive more revenue through the service – of course, that’s where HBO Now comes in. Apple TV pricing is now closer to that of such competitive devices such as Amazon Fire, Roku and Google  Chromecast. At the time of publication, Amazon is now the most expensive at $99 for Amazon Fire.

Many observers, including me, view this price drop and the HBO Now deal as another one-two punch to Apple competitors. A burning question is how many more content partnerships are they working on to deliver a K.O. to the weakest competitors and winnow the field? HBO Now on Apple TV also serves as another key entertainment partnership lock-up that puts Amazon Fire on its heels, since the only premium cable network on Amazon Fire is Showtime Anytime.

The April timing of the launch for Apple and HBO also aligns with the new season of HBO’s “Game of Thrones” and the hordes of those fanatical viewers. The cherry on the top for Apple is that the three-month exclusive lock (a cord-cutting bundle, to my mind) should help drive adoption of the device and service as people look to sever their dependence and crummy relationships with cable and satellite providers. Consumers are winners in this deal as well — they get a device that gives them nearly all the content they could want and new access to HBO’s massive library.

As Richard Pleper, CEO of HBO, pointed out, “HBO Now subscribers will have access to HBO’s past, present and future content” at a great price of $14.99 per month. I’m willing to bet that folks in Cupertino are busy working on a couple other deals that will deliver more premium content in time for the Fall or holiday season. It’s gonna be a rough year for cable and satellite companies. 

Lastly, as if the news from Apple and HBO wasn’t enough this week, Verizon announced their video service will be coming this summer and will feature content from Dreamworks Animation AwesomenessTV (the former YouTube channel). Dreamworks bought AwesomenessTV, a teen-skewed channel, nearly two years ago and this is their first large distribution relationship as well as a first for Verizon. Proving, yet again, that in the battle for eyeballs, streaming HD content is still in the early stages of evolution. 

2015 is shaping up to be a truly exciting year in the marketing and entertainment space and we’ve only just begun! In this fast-moving environment, there are still plenty of deals to be made, businesses that will breathe their last gasp of air and thirsty consumers to drink up the next great thing. As a marketer trying to reach these consumers, in this highly fragmented entertainment space, where will you make your move to engage, surprise and delight?