Finally, Aussies can legally buy decent TV shows via iTunes rather than having the choice of BitTorrent, LimeWire or Easynews.

BREAKING: iTunes TV downloads hit Australia

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Danny Gorog24 June 2008, 5:19 PM

TV show downloads in iTunes Australia from today, with attractive pricing.

If you've had an Apple TV or a video-capable iPod at home since March 2007 and have struggled to find genuine local content for it you'll be pleased to hear that Apple Australia today introduced TV shows to the Australian iTunes store.

We've yet to receive a press release from Apple but if you log on to iTunes you'll notice a big yellow sign that says 'TV Shows Just Added'. Clicking the link takes you to the new TV Shows section, where I found 29 different TV shows ranging from international hits like 'Lost' to popular local shows like 'We Can Be Heroes'. Pricing for all TV Shows is $2.99 (compared to US$1.99) and seasons range in price from $65.78 for 22 episodes of 'Scrubs, Season 6' to $15.99 for 6 episodes of 'Sleek Geeks, Season 1'. You'll note that you get a slight discount when buying some season packs, but not on all.

As of this writing, information about DRM restrictions on iTunes TV shows in Australia are still unknown (we've contacted Apple but haven't had a response). However, if the restrictions are the same as the US store expect to be able to transfer your TV Show purchases to as many iPods or Apple TVs as you like, and like music, you can watch your TV Shows on up to five authorised computers. That means you can legally share your purchased content with up to five friends or family members who have iTunes, but you won't be able to burn them to DVD. According to Apple, all TV shows are available in 640 x 480 resolution -- roughly DVD quality. You can preview them for free to see the quality of each series.

Except for iiNet (which offers uncapped iTunes downloads on all their plans) other ISPs include iTunes downloads in your data quota, so you need to be careful when downloading TV Shows. For example, with shows running around 500MB for an hour show, downloading fourteen episodes of Lost will cost you around 7GB of data - more then most basic plans offer.

TV Shows might just be the stimulation that Apple need to reduce local pricing on Apple TV - which is currently costs nearly $200 more in Australia than in the US.

If you're interested in downloading TV shows from iTunes, now is definitely the time to stock up on iTunes credits. Apple is currently engaged in a price war with BigPond Music and is selling iTunes vouchers at 40% off through Big W -- you can pick up $50 vouchers for $30, but the offer ends tomorrow. We'll be heading out tonight and stocking up on ten or so of these vouchers so we can get $500 worth of TV downloads for $300. Should last the year! (And if we happen to get strapped for cash, we can always "give" them to friends for $40 each down the track!)

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djsflynn (APC staff):

Danny, any idea if the iTunes Store vouchers could also be used on the forthcoming iPhone App Store?

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Danny Gorog (APC staff):

sorry David, not sure, but assume the answer is yes because you can currently use that credit to buy iPod Games

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Crichton (New user):

you can pick up $50 vouchers for $30, but the offer ends tomorrow. We'll be heading out tonight and stocking up on ten or so of these vouchers so we can get $500 worth of TV downloads for $300. Should last the year!

Or...I could download $500 worth of TV downloads for $0

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Tin (Advanced member):

Personally if I'm paying $50+ for a season of something, I want the pretty case and physical disk to go with it. But each to their own...

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Dan Warne (Administrator):

I like taking my TV shows wherever I go, so I can watch them on my iPod Touch (on the bus or at the gym) or MacBook Pro (in hotels, on planes, at home). To me, physical media is just a pain in the arse because I have to rip it and compress it to a digital format -- a job that can take days for a DVD box set by the time you change the discs over and rip them all etc.

Plus, I like the idea of being able to buy a TV show and legally and legitimately share it to my family members' computers. Passing on DVDs that I've enjoyed to family members is nice, but you have to get the DVD back and pass it on to another family member... it all just seems a bit last century.

But then again I have always found that I am about 5 years ahead of the curve when it comes to technology adoption... I'd converted all my CDs to MP3 by 1995 and chucked out the discs.

The other thing about physical media is it takes up space, and when you're a renter like I am, space is at a premium.

That said, the downside of digital media is that there is no second hand market, so you can't exactly pick up a bargain. Just the other day I got boxed DVD sets of "Trial and Retribution" off Amazon.co.uk for 90% off... that was unreal!! I got two boxed DVD sets sent to me from Britain for about $30 all up from memory.

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McBanjo (Cornerstone member):

I got a $50 voucher the other day.

But I find it particularly insulting since Summer Heights High was previously available for free download in the podcast section, albeit lower quality. There's not much variety there either. But it's a good start. I hope they soon expand their repertoire and include movies as well.

A quick Google search turns up Scrubs Season 6 on DVD for $50. Gonna have to try a bit harder there Apple. $3 an episode is hardly attractive pricing to me anyway with torrents more readily available.

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