A new report says consumers are receptive to buying feature films through iTunes, but only if the price is right. Very right.

Research by Dallas, TX-based The Diffusion Group indicates that about 25% of consumers with broadband access would be willing to pay for downloadable films if they were priced at no more than US$10 each. Interest drops to 10% at US$25 per title.

This may explain why the mainstream studios have shown only lukewarm interest in online models like that of iTunes, which prices music releases – old or new – at US$0.99. TV shows go for US$1.99 and the price point most often mentioned for an iTunes movie service is US$9.99.

Apple, which has over 70% of the market for digital music downloads, is expected to reveal its movie service in September. Other movie services already online include CinemaNow, MovieLink and Guba which, perhaps tellingly, recently cut prices to US$9.99, down from US$19.99, though a Guba representative denies that the cut is a pre-emptive move against iTunes.

AOL has also announced plans to offer feature films and TV shows at prices ranging from US$9.99 to US$19.99.

Whatever the iTunes price, Canadian consumers will likely respond much like the Americans. But even $10 could be too high for the all-important youth market, which dominates both legal and illegal downloading, cautions Mike Farrell, partner and director of research and consulting firm Youthography.

‘But for the double-income/no-kids folks in their late 30s, early 40s, I could see that price sensitivity going down,’ he says.

In related news, MGM is making its television content available through iTunes, starting with popular sci-fi series Stargate SG-1 and its spinoff Stargate Atlantis. Both programs are produced in Vancouver, but SG-1 has recently been cancelled by the Sci-Fi Channel (see story, p. 2).

‘The franchise will continue,’ insists Jeff Pryor, EVP of corporate communications for MGM. ‘Their fan base is very well connected to new technology and is more apt to download the shows. It just seemed to be a natural that one of our first deals would involve one of the studio’s most important franchises.’

The online venture is the first of its kind for MGM.

Pryor says MGM has no deal in place with iTunes for its film properties, but adds, ‘We do have plans to extend this deal beyond Stargate. This is just the first step.’ He says deals for ‘many more properties’ will follow, but declined to provide details, citing ongoing negotiations.

New VOD deal for MTV

MTV Canada is making some of its most popular programs available on demand through Rogers – for free.

Brad Schwartz, senior VP and GM, says the channel wants to use all available platforms, and VOD is just another way to broaden reach.

‘If you’re a guy who likes to get your entertainment on your mobile phone then we’re going to be there,’ he says. ‘If you’re a guy who likes to get your entertainment on your iPod, then we’re going to be there. We need to be [on VOD] just to fulfill the circle.

‘Having video-on-demand is something that helps build audience back to all of your other platforms where we are monetizing very well right now,’ says Schwartz.

Shows that got the nod include Laguna Beach, The Real World: Austin and Viva La Bam. A similar free service is already in place for Bell ExpressVu customers.

There are no commercials and Schwartz says there are no immediate plans for any.

‘That’s not to say a year or year and a half from now we won’t look at the user experience and see if there’s a way to monetize it,’ he adds.

Titles including Jackass, Pimp My Ride, Punk’d, Wild ‘N Out and Wildboyz are expected to be added to the lineup in the near future.

Doc for game-makers

A new, Toronto-based production house is finishing work on a doc that promises insight for budding videogame makers.

Directed by Sarah Luo, In the Game spotlights major players in the industry, including Microsoft, Sony and Autodesk, nostalgic favorites like Atari and successful upstarts such as DICE, makers of the hugely popular Battlefield series. The two-hour doc is produced by Luo’s GoldenKnight Productions and is in talks with distributors.

‘I started being curious about how to make [games] and we investigated and found there’s no information out there about this,’ says first-time producer William Young, himself a gamer.

Young describes the project as ‘edutainment,’ but adds that the industry is not all fun and games. ‘It’s matured over the past 30 years. It’s no longer an industry of garages or geeky kids in their basements. It’s an industry of office towers and outsourcing.’

Show within a show, within a podcast

Ottawa’s Knight Enterprises is developing a TV docusoap about the making of a cooking show, which will be followed by the actual cooking show available on the Internet.

The yet-to-be titled concept piece for The Food Network will also have podcasting and mobile content, according to executive producer Chris Knight (Cook Like a Chef, Licence to Grill).

‘It’s a complicated show. It’s actually three television shows in one for multiplatform delivery,’ he says. ‘Built into this show is new content for webisodes and for pod/mobile casting, but all of them are integral to the plotline of the TV series. They are not standalone pieces.’

The TV program itself covers the behind-the-scenes production of a cooking show. ‘You get all the content that you would get in a normal cooking show, but delivered in the format of a barely under-control docusoap or reality TV series,’ Knight notes.

He hopes to begin shooting in November and to have the first episodes ready for airing in April 2007. Knight would only say that the budget is ‘substantial,’ since two, possibly three, production crews would be involved in the shoot.

Knight’s second season of Junk Brothers for HGTV will also be accompanied by 10 new webisodes.

With files from Norma Reveler