Video content deals are big business

Digital video content, such as the expanded agreement announced early Tuesday between Disney and Apple for more iTunes content, brings more money to content producers than the 50-50 split record labels get for downloading a 99-cent song, according to Nielsen data quoted by MediaDailyNews. Citing the growing number of distribution deals for video content, the report says that the economics of on-demand deals are closer to the DVD business, shortening the time customers must wait for on-demand video content and accelerating the return for content producers: "There is no evidence that program downloading has led to any loss of viewership for those shows that run on Walt Disney's broadcast or cable channels. In fact, ratings have risen somewhat on ABC since the time of the deal." Apple reportedly gives up around $1.36 per episode to Walt Disney for right to distribute the company's content via its iTunes Music Store, while newer deals for more extensive likely even more lucrative--perhaps as much as a 70-30 split in favor of the content owner from the $1.99 per episode price for commercial-free programming.

Other story tags: iPod Video