NBC and Apple trying to reconcile?

January 26, 2008   0 Comments
The rumor floating around the internet tubes, is that NBC and Apple are working to resolve their differences and bring NBC content back to iTunes. A healthy NBC/Apple relationship benefits both parties, so despite their tiff last year, most anticipated discussions once the air cleared. The most encouraging worlds came from NBC's Zucker last monday, stating: 'We've said all along that we admire Apple, that we want to be in business with Apple... ...We're great fans of Steve Jobs.'"

We are curious what is sparking these conversations. Perhaps NBC has realized that launching their own video download service is not as easy as it looks. We assume that NBC did not retain their local customers when switching to Hulu or Amazon, and thus lost money pulling their shows from iTunes.

NBC was one of Apple's first studios to provide downloadable content for $1.99 per episode. Episodes of NBC's The Office, Law and Order, Heros, House, and My Name is Earl, were consistently some of the more popular titles on iTunes at the time. NBC wanted to make more money and suggested raising the price per episode for a test run. Apple stuck with their fixed price point model and rejected the suggestion. Apple and NBC would but heads for the next few months, resulting in NBC not renewing their iTunes contract, and pulling all NBC Studio content from the iTunes Store, where we are today.

Labels: Apple, Hulu, iTunes, NBC

NBC pulls out of the iTunes Store

December 3, 2007   0 Comments
We all knew it was coming. NBC has pulled all of their TV Shows from the iTunes Store. Last August the NBC vs. Apple spat went public, each accusing each other of not being fair to the other. NBC opted not to renew their contract with Apple's iTunes Store, in favor of their own download service, Hulu, and Amazon Unboxed. But these systems are packed with DRM and require IE and a windows box to play but a mac version is due sometime in 2008.

So as of today you won't find Bravo, NBC, NBC News, NBC Sports, SciFi, USA, or Telemundo programming in iTunes. In disgust a good number of NBC TV Show customers have expressed their dissatisfaction with the network, encouraging other to download the shows via torrents or peer-to-peer solutions.

NBC had provided iTunes with three of the top ten selling shows last season, and accounts for 30% of all TV Show sales.

Labels: Hulu, iTunes Store, NBC, TV Shows

Scrubs Are On Call in iTunes

November 2, 2007   0 Comments
House may have left iTunes, thanks to the NBC tiff, but another group of doctors have arrived. Scrubs, now in its last season, has been added to the iTunes Store. Scrubs appears on NBC, but are owned by ABC/Disney. Steve may have some pull there being on their board of directors.

Currently only two episodes, My Own Worst Enemy, and My Hard Labor, from the current season are available. We hope that ABC/Disney will bring the earlier seasons.

Labels: iTunes Store, NBC, TV Shows

More NBC vs. Apple Fun...

October 29, 2007   0 Comments
The fun between Apple and NBC continued to day at a Syracyse University benefit. NBC Universal Chief Jeff Zucker, threw a few more punches at Apple, stating that NBC Universal has ONLY made $15 million of its iTunes deal with Apple. He continued on explaining how Apple has made millions of iPod sales 'backed by our content'. NBC was specifically looking for a piece of the Apple Hardware sales during their contract negotiations.

The NBC Chief explained that they proposed a $2.99 / TV Show price point for 1 show to test if the market was open to a flexible pricing schedule. Sticking with their set price points Apple immediately had declined. NBC was the largest contributor to the iTunes TV Show directory, and consistently featured best selling TV Shows, week-in, week-out. The studio counted for 4 out of 10 video sold through iTunes.

The most laughable statement Zuker made was saying that “Apple has destroyed the music business. If we don’t take control on the video side, they’ll do the same”. iTunes has been one of the few bright spots in downloadable music, giving consumers an easy alternative to file sharing systems. At the very least, Apple has saved the record industry millions each year, and made millions for them as well.


All of these harsh words thrown at Apple comes when NBC Universal is preparing to launch their very own video distribution servers Hulu.com. Still in the early beta stages, it appears it will host shows such as The Office, Bionic Women, House, Bones, Arrested Development, Miami Vice and content from E!, SciFi, and USA networks. From the screenshots and description it appears to be a flash-like browser that allows for emailing and sharing of videos. The Office episode it has an example was slow to load, and extremely choppy. We say, good luck with that!

Apple has not commented on these latest attacks. We will continue to monitor the NBC fun, and keep you updated on Hulu when its ready for prime-time.

Labels: Hulu, iTunes Store, NBC, TV Shows

NBC/Apple End Negotiations

October 25, 2007   0 Comments
NBC and Apple have decided to end their negotiations regarding the studio's television programming. As we reported last month, NBC has pulled all their Television shows from iTunes, despite their early success with iTunes. The fued is over iTunes pricing, where television shows appear at $1.99.

On December 1st, Apple's contract with NBC expires, and at that point all NBC shows including shows from SciFi, USA, and Bravo will be pulled from the iTunes Music Store. NBC sent a breach of contract letter on October 9, but no legal action will follow. NBC has already worked out deals with Amazon to distribute their shows through their Amazon Unboxed service, packed with DRM.

Reactions from the fans seemed to be mixed. Several want the two to work out the details and renew the contract, others are boycotting NBC, while others simply suggest using torrents to get their shows. If you can't live without your NBC content we recommend getting a mac tv capture device, and record for your personal library.

Labels: Apple, iTunes, iTunes Store, NBC, TV Shows

The doctor is no longer in.

October 2, 2007   0 Comments
NBC's tiff with apple is reaching beyond the shows aired on its network now. Broadcastingcable.com has confirmed that House, the popular Fox TV show will no longer release new episodes through iTunes. House is produced by Universal Media, a subsidiary of NBC Universal.

With more and more popular shows dropping from the iTunes Store, Apple will have to take another look at their profit margins. Perhaps TV shows were a small drop in the bucket, but this could become huge if it keeps up.

Until then most Mac HTPC users are turning to the torrents for their House, Heros, Office, and other NBC TV Shows.

Labels: iTunes Store, NBC, TV Shows

2 New NBC shows found in iTunes!

September 26, 2007   0 Comments
NBC had their falling out... or did they? Two of NBC's new shows have appeared in iTunes. Chuck and Jouneyman both appear in iTunes for your standard $1.99 price tag. Both of them also have the option to buy a season pass!

Are we to assume that NBC and iTunes's already had this in the works and continued to move forward as planned, or is this a new development. The pricing seems to be the same, so it doesn't seem to be on NBC's terms, unless the percentages changed. NBC seems to still be moving forward with (the unfriendly, DRM crippled) Amazon's Unboxed service as well, with Heros, My Name is Earl, and other NBC shows appearing.

Stay tuned as the Networks vs iTunes drama continues...

Labels: iTunes Store, NBC, TV Shows

Fox & CBS to offer Free TV Shows.

September 20, 2007   0 Comments
Fox and CBS have both decided to offer their season premiers, free, through iTunes. You may download Prison Break, K-Ville, and The Big Bang Theory.

On the other hand NBC is trying to counter with offering free episodes of the Office and Heros through their direct download service, which is heavy in DRM and not Mac friendly.

Labels: iTunes Store, NBC, TV Shows