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NBC and iTunes Offering Free Conviction Pilot Episode?

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MacRumors

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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Apple's iTunes Music Store has updated with a new show from NBC called Conviction. Conviction is a new mid season legal drama from NBC which focuses on young district attorneys. The show will be premiering after the Winter Olympics.

NBC and Apple, however, look like they are experimenting with digital distribution methods to promote this new television show. The Conviction show is labeled "Free" for the "World Premiere Pilot Episode + Extras" on iTunes' NBC category. (The iTunes link for the show remains empty at this time as the show has not yet premiered.)

Apple/Sci-Fi previously offered a half-hour Battlestar Galactica special for free to catch viewers up on the show before the winter season. Meanwhile, CBS and Yahoo similarly offered free streams of Two and a Half Men and How I Met Your Mother in late December/early January to drive interest. Both shows reportedly saw ratings boosts following the free distribution.

While iTunes TV show sales do represent an additional revenue stream for networks, providing some free content could drive interest and ratings for new shows, increasing long term revenue from television advertising and syndication.
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2006/02/21/nbc-and-itunes-offering-free-conviction-pilot-episode/
arn

arn

macrumors god
Staff member
Apr 9, 2001
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this makes sense to me. I think all pilot episodes should be free. You want to hook viewers. I recently saw the pilot of Love Monkey, which I liked and told my friends to watch it... but there wasn't an easy way for people to watch the pilot if they missed it.

(Love Monkey, btw, has now been canceled after 3 episodes, which makes little sense)
 
P

p0intblank

macrumors 68030
Sep 20, 2005
2,548
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Excellent! I hope this is a hint of things to come. I agree with arn. Offering free pilot episodes of TV shows is an excellent way of bringing in more viewers.

As for downloading this free pilot episode of Conviction... is it actually there yet? I'm on the official page, but it's not showing up in the list of episodes.

Edit: Duh, never mind. It actually has to premier first for it to be available to download, huh? ;) It would be neat if iTunes users got some kind of exclusive "first look" features now and then, though. :)
 
cyberddot

cyberddot

macrumors 6502
Jul 4, 2003
410
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in a forest
Now people without television can watch pilots! I really don't miss having television, but between Netflix and iTunesVS it's been entirely too easy to find out what all the latest TV hubub is about.

Hockey please. Game on.
 
S

skwert

macrumors member
Jan 12, 2006
30
0
man...nbc sure has been pushing this show. hey, it worked on me. i can't wait for it to premiere...it looks top notch. i think it's a great idea to release it for free, especially because it's a pilot.
 
EricNau

EricNau

Moderator emeritus
Apr 27, 2005
10,728
281
San Francisco, CA
I love free things. :)

...And this is very smart of NBC, maybe this will hook me and I'll download (or at least watch) the rest of the series. (but since it's nbc, it probably isn't very good)
 
.Andy

.Andy

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Jul 18, 2004
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Wow another legal drama! How imaginitive! Let me guess......

Young, well dressed, and impossibly sexy/handsome lawyer types.
Lead couple of females and a couple of males. Token gay/black guy/asian.
One female who's highly ambitious but is held back by glass ceiling.
Sexual innuendo and liberal amounts of shagging.
Regular soul searching bar scene/drinks after work.
Taskmaster boss who works them to the bone but is a softy on the inside.
Topical criminal cases that challenge their fears/personal demons.
..........

p.s. Cool it's on iTMS though :D!
 
S

spacehog371

macrumors regular
Dec 13, 2003
238
0
there is a lot of stuff on there that doesn't actually have stuff to download. There is also Americas funniest home videos... but, no actual videos to download. Teasing me... not cool.
 
J

jcohen919190

macrumors newbie
Feb 20, 2006
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Y

yellow5

macrumors regular
Jun 28, 2005
129
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spacehog371 said:
there is a lot of stuff on there that doesn't actually have stuff to download. There is also Americas funniest home videos... but, no actual videos to download. Teasing me... not cool.
Click to expand...

This is because they update the store around 12:00-1:00 AM Tuesday morning Eastern Time.

So the content is just being added and it usually takes a while before the whole store is updated.

EDIT: I just noticed the ESPN SportsCenter Ads are now FREE.. They have been available, but they cost $1.99

Check em out.

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewTVSeason?id=120606257
 
Anonymous Freak

Anonymous Freak

macrumors 603
Dec 12, 2002
5,563
1,254
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Links goofy.

So the individual download links work fine, but the 'GET SEASON' button is broken.

As for the ESPN ads? They're not that funny... (Oh well, they're free. I've got every other free iTunes download...)
 
bankshot

bankshot

macrumors 65816
Jan 23, 2003
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.Andy said:
Wow another legal drama! How imaginitive!
Click to expand...

No kidding! I lost track of how many there were after more than one CSI popped up. I literally have no clue, and really have no interest in watching them. They all look the same to me. Seems like primetime TV is: reality (is it finally dying down a bit? yay!), crappy sitcoms, legal/crime/hospital drama. Ugh.

That's one of the bad things about entertainment being a competition-based market. Everyone loves to talk about how a free market with competition produces better products, but certainly not when it comes to entertainment. It's all about mass appeal, the common denominator, and when the rare new idea works, it gets copied and beaten to death for the next 5-10 years. Bleh.

That's why I end up justifying the cost of HBO even though I watch very few movies on it -- original stuff like Curb Your Enthusiasm makes it worth the price. Hmm, it's kind of like the Mac of television, a premium product appealing to those who are sick of the same old junk. :D

But, uhh, yay to iTunes for bringing us free mass market entertainment to get hooked on. Or something. :p
 
yoda13

yoda13

macrumors 65816
Sep 26, 2003
1,468
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The more content the better, and making pilots free is a great idea IMHO. I do wish that Fox would get as involved as NBC as I would love to see 24 and Prison Break on the iTMS. At any rate, Conviction looks good to me, mainly because it has been beaten into my head during the Olympic telecasts. I will have to give it a chance.:cool:
 
J

jmarsland

macrumors newbie
Feb 21, 2006
1
0
World premier

Is the "World Premier" like the World Series ie excluding everywhere in the world except North America?
 
nagromme

nagromme

macrumors G5
May 2, 2002
12,546
1,196
I think it would be smart to offer the first 3 episodes of every season of every show for free. Why? So that people have another shot at making the show a success.

Also, all episodes of Battlestar Galactica should be free. Why? Because I say so :)
 
gauchogolfer

gauchogolfer

macrumors 603
Jan 28, 2005
5,551
5
American Riviera
Is it possible to search for 'free' as a characteristic on iTunes? I just got the premier and SportsCenter spots, and was wondering if there's an easy way to find out about other free content.
 
stuBCN75

stuBCN75

macrumors member
Mar 11, 2004
54
0
Barcelona & Bristol(UK)
starwxrwx said:
is there anyway to download free stuff from the US store if you don't live in the US?
Click to expand...

It does not look like it :(
I was just about to ask the same thing. It's a shame the same video content is not available outside the US. I suppose it's down to the usual copyright hand bag fighting.

Anyone want to email me the free episode ?
 
ezekielrage_99

ezekielrage_99

macrumors 68040
Oct 12, 2005
3,336
19
starwxrwx said:
is there anyway to download free stuff from the US store if you don't live in the US?
Click to expand...

Yeah but you need to have a credit card with a US billing address apparently.
 
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