NBC to End iTunes Sales?

[X38]

Good riddance!

The big question has been where is the DVR function that is glaringly absent from iLife??

I recall when TV shows first started coming to iTunes that some NBC executive was quoted as saying (paraphrased from memory) 'other computer makers should play nice like Apple and not build DVR's into their systems' and those comments were at least implicitly linked to why NBC agreed to sell on iTunes.

Well, I for one don't care much about what NBC has for sale, but I do VERY much want a DVR built in to iLife / iTunes. Time for Apple to let NBC choke on its own greed and let loose a killer DVR on the market. Then we can get all the NBC shows we want for free and when NBC's ad revenue drops to zero they can come groveling back to iTunes and sell us their shows for 10 cents on the dollar so we can avoid the inconvenience of waiting for our DVR's to snag a broadcast rerun.

 

[cuestakid]

What the heck do you suppose that means? Has anyone heard of any meaningful FairPlay cracks recently? Or of NBC abandoning formats that are long since cracked (e.g., DVD)?

Apparently they want apple to make it harder for people to get access to illgeal downloads. So essentially they want a computer company to somehow deny you the ability to download limewire or something like that.

http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_6770112


in a related story, the sony store has surrendered

http://playlistmag.com/news/2007/08/31/connect/index.php

 

[thestaton]

it's pretty simple. i'll buy 30 Rock & The Office on iTunes, or I'll just get it off a torrent.

hrm....

 

[digitalbiker]

NBC is already last in network ratings, what next, close up shop???

Don't you think that itunes might be partially responsible for that?

Possibly more people are downloading Heroes, Earl, Office, etc rather than watching over-the-air. That means NBC's Nielson ratings drop and NBC gets less money from advertisers. NBC contracts with advertisers are linked to ratings. High-rating shows get more money for ads than low rated shows.

Maybe NBC wants to make up for that revenue loss by asking more from Apple itunes content. Either they want to add the ads to itunes content or they want to be able to get more money from ad-free content.

Since this is a free-market economy, NBC has the choice to either sale through itunes or find a new retailer. Apple also has the choice to either allow more flexible pricing / ad bundling for content providers or lose content. Both have a choice. Isn't America beautiful?

 

[s10]

It is so simple

It's exactly like when video cassettes came out; there where 3 types.. very inconvenient.. so in the end one type won, vhs, and video boomed.

Now they have to find one new download format, Apple looks like the winner, but the studios don't want the same thing to happen to them as what happened to the music business..

Apple owns the music download business, the music industry has no way out.

This scares the ***** out of the TV/Movie bosses.

 

[X38]

[...]
But Apple knows that there are limits to what people will spend - as it is, there are people who think the prices being charged right now ($1 a track, $2 an episode, $10 a movie, etc.) are too much - they know that raising that price even more is not going to help anyone (not Apple, not the users, not the content companies).

Count me in that group. I think everything on iTunes is priced at least twice what it is worth and I hold my nose everytime I buy. Even so, I don't buy ANY music, TV shows, movies, etc. anywhere else now becasue iTunes is still cheaper than the alternatives.
If they cut the prices on iTunes in half, I would definitely purchase far more that double what I purchase now and the amount everyone profits from me would greatly increase.

 

[dswoodley]

I think both Apple and NBC are being pigheaded on this if it is a pricing issue. Apple wants all episodes of any tv show to be $1.99, that's like a store telling all cereal makers they must sell EVERY box of cereal for $3.99 or something. I honestly don't think most buyers would care of they had to pay $2.19 for the Office and $1.89 for LaO SVU.

The bundling issue? Now that's something else entirely...

 

[guzhogi]

Haven't read all the posts so sorry if I'm repeating someone. I feel that NBC & Universal want to get more money out of these. So if they raise their price, people would start looking in other places. Some might get DVDs. But those don't come out until after the season ends, there's probably copy protection on them so you can't copy them to your computer, and NBC/Universal might raise the prices on DVDs & CDs, too. So people will start pirating this stuff again. And why do they need the extra money? Just so the CEO can go fom a $20 Million salary to a $30 million salry, and add $10 million every year while all the people who actually make the DVDs get only $8/hr?

 

[razorme]

I think both Apple and NBC are being pigheaded on this if it is a pricing issue. Apple wants all episodes of any tv show to be $1.99, that's like a store telling all cereal makers they must sell EVERY box of cereal for $3.99 or something. I honestly don't think most buyers would care of they had to pay $2.19 for the Office and $1.89 for LaO SVU.

The bundling issue? Now that's something else entirely...

Apple says they would have had to raise the price to $4.99 an episode with NBC's new terms.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070831/aqf030.html?.v=19

 

[AT71]

Er... hate to ask.

But anyone know a way to remove the DRM from the videos bought in iTunes Store using a Mac?

Sick of all these DRM nonsense.

 

[AT71]

Looks like Heroes and Bionic Woman will not be available on iTunes Store this month after reading the Yahoo! news.

 

[milo]

Don't you think that itunes might be partially responsible for that?

Nope. TV shows work on momentum and word of mouth. iTunes has been widely credited with saving the Office. It was struggling before it went onto iTunes and the fact that it sold well probably kept it from being cancelled.

Possibly more people are downloading Heroes, Earl, Office, etc rather than watching over-the-air.

Maybe that's true. But NBC at least makes money from iTunes sales. If they switch to something else that's more expensive or less convenient, many of the people downloading will likely just switch to a "free" download if you know what I mean. I don't see how NBC gains anything from that.

Maybe NBC wants to make up for that revenue loss by asking more from Apple itunes content. Either they want to add the ads to itunes content or they want to be able to get more money from ad-free content.

 

[droz]

Apple says they would have had to raise the price to $4.99 an episode with NBC's new terms.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070831/aqf030.html?.v=19

yeah, that's just crazy. Personally, i had stopped buying tv shows online anyway (waiting for them to be offered at HD). Plus they are widely available for free at many many locations (in HD).

At any rate, can't wait for NBC and Vivendi Universal to wake up about 6 months from now and wonder where all there online sales went. 4.99. what a fricking joke.

 

[Sheradon]

I used to bittorren my shows before Itunes....

If NBC removes their shows off Itunes and starts selling elsewhere i will not follow them...will go back to bittoren download.

I'm sure i'm not the only one who thinks like that, NBC would be fools to leave.

 

[milo]

Looks like Heroes and Bionic Woman will not be available on iTunes Store this month after reading the Yahoo! news.

And considering the Bionic Woman pilot has been online for weeks, if not months, complete with "property of NBC" in the corner, they're off to a great start fighting piracy! Best of luck, guys.

 

[AT71]

What if FOX follows suit? Geez! There goes my "24".

Better stop investing in iTunes Store contents. I blame Apple for this mess too.

Back to collecting DVDs. The F thing is, a new format war.

God! When will this end?

Can't everyone agree on something?

Guess man juz like to make things complex.

F@#%!!!

 

[Matthew Yohe]

Apple's statement:

"iTunes Store To Stop Selling NBC Television Shows

CUPERTINO, California—August 31, 2007—Apple® today announced that it will not be selling NBC television shows for the upcoming television season on its online iTunes® Store (http://www.itunes.com). The move follows NBC’s decision to not renew its agreement with iTunes after Apple declined to pay more than double the wholesale price for each NBC TV episode, which would have resulted in the retail price to consumers increasing to $4.99 per episode from the current $1.99. ABC, CBS, FOX and The CW, along with more than 50 cable networks, are signed up to sell TV shows from their upcoming season on iTunes at $1.99 per episode.

“We are disappointed to see NBC leave iTunes because we would not agree to their dramatic price increase,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of iTunes. “We hope they will change their minds and offer their TV shows to the tens of millions of iTunes customers.”

Apple’s agreement with NBC ends in December. Since NBC would withdraw their shows in the middle of the television season, Apple has decided to not offer NBC TV shows for the upcoming television season beginning in September. NBC supplied iTunes with three of its 10 best selling TV shows last season, accounting for 30 percent of iTunes TV show sales.

Apple ignited the personal ... (boilerplate)"

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2007/08/31itunes.html

 

[Stella]

"NBC supplied iTunes with three of its 10 best selling TV shows last season, accounting for 30 percent of iTunes TV show sales."

Wow 30%. Apple are upping the stakes!

No doubt NBC and Apple will start talks!

--

What is it with digital content that companies think they can add a huge premium for no apparent reason?

A good example of this are music stores that you can buy music directly from from your cell phone... often exceeding an extra $1 on top of what you'd pay for on iTMS and others.

 

[EagerDragon]

Makes very little difference to me, I actualy watch very little TV and have purchased a total of 3 videos from iTunes.

Most of the times im on my Mac, learning something, trying something, working on something, reading rss, visiting sites, chatting, playing a game, editing photos, making a video, and occational uTube (one a month or so).

If the TV is on, is for someone else enjoyment, to me it is mainly background (white) noice.

In my case, nothing lost and nothing gained.

 

[digitalbiker]

Nope. TV shows work on momentum and word of mouth. iTunes has been widely credited with saving the Office. It was struggling before it went onto iTunes and the fact that it sold well probably kept it from being cancelled.

Maybe it saved Office from being cancelled because of strong itunes sales but that still doesn't increase the Neilson ratings.

Advertising charges are linked to ratings. High rated shows get more money from ads than low rated shows.

Therefore the more people that buy tv from itunes the fewer people that watch over-the-air, this results in lower Neilson ratings, or in other words less revenue from advertising.

The network needs to make up that lost revenue somehow. They hope that increasing itunes download pricing will offset the revenue lost. If it doesn't then content providers will slowly go broke or they will have to stop creating high-cost productions. This spells bad news for high-paid actors, or high priced special effect television productions.

 

[cmonster]

Guess everyone will go back to using bittorent to download them. To bad NBC will loose all that revenue.

 

[sbarton]

Queue an update that brings DiVX and Xvid compatability to iTunes, iPhone, and the iPod in 5.....4......3.....2....1.....

 

[Sheradon]

Apple says they would have had to raise the price to $4.99 an episode with NBC's new terms.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070831/aqf030.html?.v=19

who would pay 100$ for a season pass insane!!!!!

My take is that this is only to hurt Apple vs other distributors.

 

[Thataboy]

I don't buy video off of iTunes because I think it is already WAY too expensive and low resolution (never mind the DRM issues).

But NBC is being simply insane. They wanted $4.99 for an episode of television???? I don't care if it is DRM-free, HD, and covered in diamonds... 5 bucks for an episode of television is out-of-this-world nuts.

Yea, good luck to Hulu. I think the torrent sites are going to see a big spike in traffic.

 

[Sheradon]

What if FOX follows suit? Geez! There goes my "24".

Better stop investing in iTunes Store contents. I blame Apple for this mess too.

Back to collecting DVDs. The F thing is, a new format war.

On the contrary that is exactly wath NBC wants ppl to do !!!

If you stick with Itunes it will be NBC that will have to come back for lack of revenues !!!

If ppl go back to DVD's then you are doing just what NBC is looking for.