News
Apple responds to NBC, won’t offer upcoming fall season shows
Apple has announced that they will not be offering NBC television shows for the upcoming season on iTunes. In the announcement, Apple revealed that NBC wanted it to pay more than double the wholesale price for each episode, a move that would have resulted in the retail price of each episode increasing from $1.99 per episode to an eye-popping $4.99 per episode. Apple also noted that 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.”
Because the agreement between Apple and NBC runs out in December, should Apple have begun sales of fall series, NBC could have pulled the content from the store mid-season. To avoid this potential problem, Apple decided not to carry the shows at all. According to the announcement, NBC provided iTunes with three of its ten top-selling shows last season, accounting for 30 percent of iTunes TV show sales.
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21
Vote against NBC with your wallets. Keep buying $1.99 ABC, CBS, etc. shows from iTunes. Better yet, buy two non-NBC shows for every NBC show your bought last year.
Posted by Capt'n Wisdom on August 31, 2007 at 4:49 PM (PST)
22
Lets see…I was going to purchase the season on iTunes before it even came out like I usually do. You think I’m going to have to wait and then pay for the DVD after the season is over. NOT!
Can you say Bit Torrent or Ripping The DVD when it comes out. The only way I was going to pay for it was that it was out the very next day and it was in a high quality format. MORONS!
Posted by Mav on August 31, 2007 at 5:30 PM (PST)
23
I agree with Casper and Ian; Apple is only giving one side of the story, and it’s a side I don’t for the most part believe.
Posted by Joshua on September 1, 2007 at 1:01 AM (PST)
24
It’s obvious NBC Universal have had something planned for a while with the issues over music not so long ago. Now it’s moved on to the videos. It seems a very well-chosen time as it coincides with iTunes video content becoming available in Europe.
Universal seem to have a very personal beef with Apple. The popularity of iTunes and iPods has been massive and Universal want a bigger piece of the pie.
Universal is a gross abuser of the media they control and their customers they sell it to. They seem to want to squeeze every last penny out of consumers in every way they can. There seems to be little regard for the integrity of the artists’ material or the consumer. It’s all about making lots of money at the expense of the very people who make it for you! Nothing short of abuse.
The issue of piracy is a red herring. Have they approached the manufacturers of other personal video players such as Archos? At least Apple is complying by selling DRMed material…
Apple may not be telling all the story, but for Universal this type of action is very typical.
Posted by Roger on September 2, 2007 at 3:51 AM (PST)
25
Roger,
As clarified by Charles elsewhere
“It is important to note that NBC/Universal is owned by General Electric, while the Universal Music Group is owned by Vivendi, a completely separate company. While they may share a common name, they are not, in fact, related in terms of negotiations with Apple. NBC/Universal: http://www.nbcuni.com/ UMG/Vivendi: http://www.vivendi.com/corp/en/subsidiaries/index_music.php”
Posted by Bob Levens in UK on September 2, 2007 at 6:42 AM (PST)
26
Thanks for the clarification. I’ve noted the difference in the companies. The main thrust of my comments apply to Universal music group re: squeezing every last drop…
Still the situation with NBC/Universal is bizarre and I agree with this site’s editorial on the subject.
It seems there are some companies who have got the knives out for Apple….
Posted by Roger on September 2, 2007 at 10:42 AM (PST)
27
why would you pay anything for a show you can watch FOR FREE?
Posted by BD on September 6, 2007 at 1:34 PM (PST)
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