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Apple to Stop Selling NBC Television Shows

Maybe Vivendi has something to do with this? They hold 20% of NBC Universal and 100% of Universal Music Group, and we know what's happened between Apple and UMG.

(Edit: Well, OhEsTen alluded to Universal being involved, but I checked NBC Universal's web site, and GE holds 80%, so Universal doesn't exactly "own" NBC.)
 
"I'm not sure that we'd still have the show on the air" without the iTunes boost, says Angela Bromstead, president of NBC Universal Television Studio, which owns and produces "The Office." "The network had only ordered so many episodes, but when it went on iTunes and really started taking off, that gave us another way to see the true potential other than just Nielsen. It just kind of happened at a great time."
 
EyeTV and antenna. At 0¢ per episode, amortizes pretty quickly. And it's HD, not near-DVD.

This model also works on the PC with Hauppauge drivers. I use BeyondTV for PVR there.
 
chrisgeleven said:
Who the heck would pay $4.99 per TV Show episode?

Are you kidding me?

Talk about being greedy.
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Xbox Live TV shows are close to that price already. Although once IPTV goes live I am not sure how that is going to affect things. (I can't wait).
akuma13 said:
I would not be suprised if this is connected to the HD wars too. NBC owns Universal which is adamant about only supporting HD-DVD. Apple is with Blue Ray? Watch Microsft X-box online service announce exclusivity to NBC shows.
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Apple supports both formats.
 
It's ok!

That's why bittorrent exists :) When a corporation choses to make no money because they can't get double the money they were making you know they deserve to be robbed. :)
 
Why doesn't Apple offer DiVX and XVID compatability to iTunes and the iPhone/iPod. Then your could take your DVD's and rip them into iTunes like you can with CD's and manage them just like we do with music tracks.

This would setup a similar model to when the iPod first came out and give the consumer a legitimate option to building thier online media library.

Every music track I've purchased over the last 4 years or so has been through the iTunes muisc store. Prior to that, I accumulated them from...*cough*...other places, including ripping CD's.

I think having that equalizer servered a great service to the consumer AND the companies selling videos.

Make it Legitimate, Make it Fair, and Make it Convienant.
 
The networks are desperate in this ad-free age of Tivo and iTunes downloads. They're going to have to figure out a new way to get advertisers, because charging $5 for a 22-minute episode isn't going to fly.

What they should do is go after product placement, and then give the episodes away for free and embrace file sharing. They'll make the same amount of money, if not more, because they can charge advertisers more, since more people will be seeing products in the shows if they get it for free.
 
At least now we shouldn't have to hear anymore of that "they just want to prevent a monopoly" crap that some buffoon always starts spouting.
 
Ladies and gentlemen, start your DVD recorders!
(then of course, start your HandBrake conversions and such . . . .).
 
Wow. I've given a lot of money to NBC through iTunes. In fact almost all of my TV purchases were NBC. I bought all three seasons of the Office from them, and a couple episodes of 30 Rock.

It was already pretty expensive per season given that the price of the DVD sets was about the same, in higher quality, and with extras.

The other thing is that I would have never discovered The Office or 30 Rock without iTunes as I don't watch much network TV. For shame NBC. For shame!

Plus Apple gave NBC so much free advertising by using the Office on so many demo's of the iPod and Apple TV.....BOO! BOO! I say we boycott NBC.
 
Ah, the greed. Some companies still don't get it, do they? Paradigms are shifting, the old ways will not work anymore.

So now as opposed to getting some money from iTMS, they'd rather have none. Well then, none is exactly what they'll get - and the torrent networks will be a little more active now with NBC content.

See ya NBC, Apple doesn't need you. :cool:
 
sbarton said:
Why doesn't Apple offer DiVX and XVID compatability to iTunes and the iPhone/iPod. Then your could take your DVD's and rip them into iTunes like you can with CD's and manage them just like we do with music tracks.

This would setup a similar model to when the iPod first came out and give the consumer a legitimate option to building thier online media library.
Click to expand...

DMCA

Basically, because DVDs have copy protection, it is illegal (in the USA) to circumvent that copy protection. CDs had no copy protection.
 
Wow, I pay for cable and a DVR service, but when that somehow fails for an episode (which inevitably happens a few times a year), I just purchased it on iTunes. Now I guess I'll have to turn to the torrents, which is something I like to avoid when possible.

It's really disappointing, because most of my favorite shows are on NBC, and iTunes was a really convenient way to catch a missed episode. Those saying you can just buy and rip the DVD don't get it. Watching TV is about being a part of American culture, relating to coworkers and such. It's only worth the $2 because you can watch it before the next episode comes on. Watching it on DVD later doesn't really do much for that experience.
 
I will be downloading your shows from my favorite bit torrent search engine from now on. Thanks for the memories!
 
honestly i can't see paying for anything that was originally broadcast for free.

yea they may have commercials, but that just gives you bathroom/snack breaks
 
I want to rent, not own TV shows

When I have purchased TV shows or movies I watch them once. And they clog up my hard drive. What is needed is a rental say for 5 days.
 
The especially stupid part about this is that NBC puts every episode of Heroes up on their web site for free. Granted, you have to sit through advertisements.

But you'd definitely think $2 an episode would make them a lot more money. Especially when the DVD costs less.
 
If NBC was 30% if iTunes TV show sales is anyone else curious to know the breakdown of the other 70%?

It seems to me that NBC makes more money from advertising than they do from downloads (which is why they let you watch it free on their site).

If the downloads were of HD quality then maybe they would be worth buying, but why buy a 640p video when I can get the 1080i version for free??
 
Maybe NBC will offer free fully downloadable episodes with commercials that can be watched on any device that supports mp4. I can see paying for an episode or two that you might miss, but I can't see paying for something you can watch for free, or pay for something you are already paying for through another service. I will definitely be using AVCVideoCap to record from my Comcast DVR. Works like a charm.

Does anybody know of any mac software that will pull the stored files from your DVR to your computer? Better yet, the On Demand files to your computer?

Just curious.
 
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