Monday, December 1, 2025

Live Major League Baseball drives Apple TV signups

͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more

Live Major League Baseball drives Apple TV signups

MacDailyNews

Dec 1

READ IN APP

According to Antenna’s research, Major League Baseball games on Apple TV generated more subscriber sign-ups than high-profile shows such as “The Morning Show” and “Your Friends & Neighbors.”

for Bloomberg News:
‎

A May game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees led more people to sign up for Apple than any other program between April 2025 and September 2025 (aka baseball season). Individual games accounted for six of the 10 biggest sign-up pushes in that span.

for Bloomberg News:

Baseball fans are less likely to stick around given the relative paucity of sports on Apple. But the benefits of the sign-ups weren’t completely erased by the cancellations.

‎
MacDailyNews Take: Shocking.

Cook should consider bidding for and winning NFL Sunday Ticket away from DirecTV, buying rights to Premiere League and La Liga games, etc. and making them Apple TV exclusives. Go directly to the sports leagues with boatloads of cash. — MacDailyNews, May 6, 2014

‎
Please help support MacDailyNews — and enjoy subscriber-only articles, comments, chat, and more — by subscribing to our Substack: macdailynews.substack.com. Thank you!

Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.

The post Live Major League Baseball drives Apple TV signups appeared first on MacDailyNews.

You're currently a free subscriber to MacDailyNews. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.

Upgrade to paid

Comment

Restack

Apple seeks to block India antitrust case with challenge to penalty law

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more

Apple seeks to block India antitrust case with challenge to penalty law

MacDailyNews

Dec 1

READ IN APP

Apple is attempting to halt antitrust investigations in India by legally challenging a provision that permits penalties to be based on the company’s worldwide revenue, according to the country’s Competition Commission, further intensifying the standoff between New Delhi and the U.S. tech giant.

The company filed a challenge last month against the Indian antitrust law that enables the regulator to calculate fines using global turnover, arguing that the rule could result in excessively harsh penalties for violations confined solely to the Indian market.

Arpan Chaturvedi for Reuters:
‎

Apple argued it risks facing a fine of up to $38 billion after it was found to have breached laws in a case where Tinder-owner Match and Indian startups succeeded in convincing the watchdog the tech firm’s in-app fee hurts smaller players, and is anti-competitive.
A final decision on the case, including the fine, is still pending.
On Monday, a lawyer for the Competition Commission of India (CCI) accused Apple of trying to “stall the proceedings” dating back to 2021. Apple’s counsel urged the court to prevent the regulator from taking coercive steps.
Judges at the Delhi High Court asked the CCI to file a detailed response to Apple’s arguments.

‎
MacDailyNews Take: Any country or consortium of countries trying to grab 10% of Apple’s average global turnover would be committing a grossly disproportionate and patently unjust act.

The vast majority of developers who pay Apple an App Store commission, pay 15%. That amounts to 12 cents of “inflated prices” for non-free apps on average. So, if you bought 50 apps for your iPhone, it would cost you, on the average, a total of $40. Halving Apple’s commission would reduce that price to $37. Removing Apple’s commission entirely would reduce that price to $34.

Here you see the absolute horror of “inflated prices” caused by Apple trying to cover costs to run their App Stores for 2.35 billion users (and counting). A total of $3-$6 per every 50 apps, on average. How can any app consumer survive such abject gouging?!

How much did it cost developers to have their apps burned onto CDs, boxed, shipped, displayed on store shelves prior to Apple remaking the world for the better for umpteenth time? Does Apple not have costs to store, review, organize, surface, and distribute apps to 1+ billion users? – MacDailyNews, July 30, 2021

Either Apple continues to take App Store commissions to pay for their infrastructure costs or they increase hardware and/or subscription prices to pay for government interference.

As usual, Big Government is a meddling middleman just attempting to move costs around in order to appeal to their base: “We fought the big, bad corporation meanies and saved you oh-so-much money on your apps (a whole 12 cents per). (We won’t talk about your other costs – hardware, subscription rates, etc. – that were increased in order to compensate for our meddling). We think you’re stupid. Vote for us.”

‎
Please help support MacDailyNews — and enjoy subscriber-only articles, comments, chat, and more — by subscribing to our Substack: macdailynews.substack.com. Thank you!

Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.

The post Apple seeks to block India antitrust case with challenge to penalty law appeared first on MacDailyNews.

You're currently a free subscriber to MacDailyNews. For the full experience, upgrade your subscription.

Upgrade to paid

Comment

Restack

Black Friday online sales hit record $11.8 billion in U.S.

Forwarded this email? Subscribe here for more

Black Friday online sales hit record $11.8 billion in U.S.

MacDailyNews

Dec 1

READ IN APP

Black Friday online sales soared to a record $11.8 billion in the U.S., marking a robust 9.1% increase from the previous year according to Adobe Analytics, fueled in part by AI-powered tools that helped consumers hunt down the best deals more efficiently. While e-commerce thrived, physical store traffic remained subdued as inflation and uncertainty over trade policies kept many shoppers at home. Looking ahead, Adobe projects Cyber Monday to shatter expectations with $14.2 billion in online spending alone.

Reuters:
‎

Online shopping demand increased as consumers showed savviness in the holiday season, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which noted a 10.4% growth in e-commerce sales on Black Friday, compared to an in-store sales growth of 1.7% in 2024.
The AI-driven traffic to U.S. retail sites soared 805% compared to last year, Adobe said, when artificial intelligence tools such as Walmart’s Sparky or Amazon’s Rufus had not yet been launched.
“Consumers are using new tools to get to what they need faster,” said Suzy Davidkhanian, an analyst at eMarketer. “Gift giving can be stressful, and LLMs (large language models) make the discovery process feel quicker and more guided.”
Hot sellers on Black Friday included LEGO sets, Pokemon cards, gaming consoles like the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 5, and products ranging from Apple AirPods to KitchenAid mixers.
Globally, AI and agents influenced $14.2 billion in online sales on Black Friday, of which $3 billion came from the U.S. alone, according to software firm Salesforce.
Salesforce, whose data includes non-discretionary items like groceries, reported that U.S. consumers had spent $18 billion online on Black Friday purchases, up 3% from a year ago, with luxury apparel and accessories among the most popular categories.

‎
MacDailyNews Take: This Black Friday spending surge paves the way for an even more explosive Cyber Monday, with Adobe forecasting a record-breaking $14.2 billion in online sales — a 6.3% jump year-over-year that will cement it as the single biggest e-commerce day of the season.

‎
Please help support MacDailyNews — and enjoy subscriber-only articles, comments, chat, and more — by subscribing to our Substack: macdailynews.substack.com. Thank you!

Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.

The post Black Friday online sales hit record $11.8 billion in U.S. appeared first on MacDailyNews.