News
NBC pulls TV shows from iTunes Store
By Charles Starrett
Senior Editor, iLounge
Published: Monday, December 3, 2007
News Category: iTunes
As expected, NBC Universal has pulled its lineup of TV shows from the iTunes Store, including popular offerings such as The Office and Scrubs. In August, NBC announced that it would not renew its contract with Apple to sell its television shows on the iTunes Store; the contract expired over the weekend. Some shows airing on NBC but produced by other studios remain, such as Chuck, which is produced by Warner Bros. According to Apple, 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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1
P2P! Limewire. P2P! Limewire. P2P! Limewire. P2P! Limewire. P2P! Limewire. P2P! Limewire. P2P! Limewire. P2P! Limewire. P2P! Limewire. P2P! Limewire. P2P! Limewire. P2P! Limewire. P2P! Limewire.
Enough said.
Posted by Don Trammell on December 3, 2007 at 8:34 AM (PDT)
2
Yay for torrents!
Actually, I’m from Canada so this doesn’t affect me. lol
Posted by illegalattempt on December 3, 2007 at 8:53 AM (PDT)
3
I was perfectly willing to pay for a show occasionally when I missed it. I have no interest in going to NBC and dealing with all the commercials and crappy quality.
I guess that’s irrelevant now that I have an eyeTV tuner and HD antenna. Completely free TV FTW!
Posted by Bethany on December 3, 2007 at 9:19 AM (PDT)
4
I guess NBC would prefer that people steal their shows rather than pay for them. Rule #1 of good business, charge the consumer for what they want. If NBC won’t give us what we would gladly pay for, then I say take it for free until they do.
Posted by jjones on December 3, 2007 at 10:05 AM (PDT)
5
One word: TiVo. TiVo recently upgraded the software on the S3 and HD TiVos so that you can now download programs. Now you can copy a program to your Mac or PC, convert it to an iPod compatible program, and watch it portably. (Note: I have no stake in TiVo, just a satisfied customer).
As others noted, this move will just push people to use P2P or timeshifting systems like TiVo. NBC revenues will drop. Story at 11.
Posted by Greg on December 3, 2007 at 10:06 AM (PDT)
6
Last I checked, you can download them legally on Amazon.
Posted by superape on December 3, 2007 at 10:58 AM (PDT)
7
I understand that it is up to Universal to decide where how to distribute their product, but what I DON’T understand is WHY do they have such a big problem with iTunes….?
Why all the attacks and bad publicity? What did Apple/iTunes do to deserve all this? I’m sure it must be MORE than pricing disagreements, since Universal is NOW giving all of it’s shows away for free….
Posted by ahMEmon in Canada on December 3, 2007 at 11:33 AM (PDT)
8
Why do I feel like Apple and NBC are playing WPT. They bluffed and called. We will see who win the pot…
Posted by aerohunter on December 3, 2007 at 11:39 AM (PDT)
9
I wonder if this means all the NBC shows (when and if they return from the writers strike) will no longer have characters with iPhones and iPods but instead Verizon Voyagers and Zunes!
Posted by Carl on December 3, 2007 at 1:53 PM (PDT)
10
Haha yeah. On Heroes they gave Monica an iPod Video to use for her powers. They are probably gonna replace it now. Haha
Posted by kharani on December 3, 2007 at 2:14 PM (PDT)
11
THey can do like they did on 30 Rock: Kenneth the Page gave out what looked like iPod boxes, but they had green goo in them.
Lauren
Posted by daelin in The Ugliest City in the US (I'm the exception ;) ) on December 3, 2007 at 5:06 PM (PDT)
12
@$$hole$!!! Battlestar Galactica, only the BEST sci-fi show on TV, is GONE! You can’t even download old episodes. That pisses me off!!!
Posted by Matt D. on December 3, 2007 at 5:07 PM (PDT)
13
I wonder if NBC is doing this because of the writers’ strike. Maybe they can now afford paying the writers.
Posted by Joseph on December 3, 2007 at 6:47 PM (PDT)
14
“Haha yeah. On Heroes they gave Monica an iPod Video to use for her powers. They are probably gonna replace it now. Haha”
Lol, well after tonights episode I doubt Monica is that concerned about it. I’m not too upset about this change since most shows can be found all over the web for download. Some sites even offer them in the iPod format. Good job NBC, but not really…Apple seems to be getting pushed around on many fronts: http://arstechnica.com/journals/apple.ars/2007/12/03/report-apple-caves-in-hollywood-face-off-will-raise-itunes-movie-prices
Long link, hope it shows up.
Posted by DDSD on December 3, 2007 at 8:55 PM (PDT)
15
DDSD, Thanks for the link, but check out tinyurl.com
Posted by rebo on December 4, 2007 at 11:09 AM (PDT)
16
^Wow, thanks. This will definitely come in handy.
Posted by DDSD on December 4, 2007 at 8:41 PM (PDT)
17
LOL! This George guy is smoking something!
Posted by Mike M on April 16, 2008 at 8:43 PM (PDT)