Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Video, iTunes
NBC to offer content, DRM via NBC Direct
The latest news in the NBC/Apple battle? NBC is going to make their own iTunes. With blackjack! And women! In fact, forget the blackjack and the women-- they're calling it "NBC Direct," and a brand new player (not available on Mac for a little while, go figure) will be used to download and play television shows just as soon as they finish airing on television.Sounds cool, right? What's the catch? The player is NBC only, and heavy DRM in there keeps it from playing anything else at all, including that scary "stolen copyrighted material." If you're going to use their player, you'll have to watch their shows, or else. I'd make a prediction that someone will hack it to play other stuff, but frankly, who cares. If NBC wants to go play in their own (non-Mac pool) let 'em, I say.
They also say that, in the future, they may even offer download-to-own, rental, and subscription business models. If only there was a well-designed, very established and compatible, widespread piece of software out there that let them easily do that right now. Oh well. Good luck, NBC. Say hi to Tina Fey for me, and tell her I'll see her on bittorrent.
[via MacRumors]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Peter said 10:04PM on 9-19-2007
Wow, NBC has issues if they think that I care that they aren't on iTunes. When they were on it was nice to download an SNL or two, but frankly it doesn't matter if they aren't on it or not. I'm not gonna search for there shows, I'll watch Chuck On Demand for free 3 weeks before it airs, thank you very much.
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Sam said 10:27PM on 9-19-2007
First one to hack the DRM gets a cupcake.
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zedzedtop said 10:45PM on 9-19-2007
NBC is full of fail.
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James F said 10:53PM on 9-19-2007
I love the Futurama reference.
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Sam said 11:02PM on 9-19-2007
Hey everybody, instead of offering our shows for an amazing price of $1.99 on the biggest online music store in the world who also use the most successful mp3 player in history, were just gonna offer our shows free for anyone to watch for one week at our own site at NBC! Instead of making money and providing an easy, ad-free way for our customers, were just going to stick it to them and offer NBC Direct.
sometimes....I wish these corporations would figure out when there shooting themselves in the foot and actually be for the respectful, paying customer instead of trying to stick it to apple.
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marvin.marcial said 11:11PM on 9-19-2007
Is there anyone who would honestly use NBC Direct? Most people are bashing the idea but I wanted to know if there were any people seriously considering using it.
I'm in Korea and so it would be nice to watch the newest Office episode when it comes out. I would probably use NBC Direct if it was faster than a torrent. Now if only it were on Mac...
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Jon said 11:16PM on 9-19-2007
Record labels and TV distributors depend on artists to provide them with content and the general public to purchase that content, yet they are screwing both of them. That's the kind of business model where sooner or later someone's going to chip in with
Another Solution and said music/TV company will be hit very hard indeed. And that someone may well end up being Apple.
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Lumpy Dog said 11:18PM on 9-19-2007
Eh, forget the iTunes. I'll just take the blackjack and hookers. Who needs them anyway?
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John said 11:34PM on 9-19-2007
Hmmm.... Lets see. I can pay $5 dollars an episode, only be able to watch it on my PC, can't transfer it to my iPod, probably SD quality, or I can go to bitme and get it in HD for free and watch it on my iPod?
Life if full of choices, this isn't one of them.
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Charles Miller said 11:53PM on 9-19-2007
In other news, it seems that you're not allowed to use the word 'hookers' in a TUAW lede.
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DrunkDwarf said 11:59PM on 9-19-2007
DrunkDearf says: You forgot the alcohol! Can't have blackjack and hookers without alcohol!
What I don't get is why NBC thinks NBC Direct is going to be able to compete? NBC thinks I'm going to fire up Parallels and be chained to my super bad ass 1080p display to watch their crappy SD content? I've got BluRay for the SBAD, it has spoiled me against anything less. I've found my iPhone is perfectly adequate for crappy SD content and fills the dead time between work and the SBAD. :o)
Good bye NBC, the cold stark reality is fewer and fewer people are watching "real time" anymore. You've just cut yourself off from the most successful non-real-time multimedia delivery eco-system. Small furry mammals will happily move in to take your place in the sun as you leave.
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pixelslut said 12:00AM on 9-20-2007
Yes indeed. Theyre content isnt that valuable to me. I pay for the *convenience* of loacating and downloading thier content through iTunes, not the content itself. Take that away and i have no reason to give them any cash. I can deal with having to wait a few hours for something to get ripped and torrented, or setting my VCR.
This is has to be one of the stupidest business decisions ever made.
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MidniteMarv said 12:00AM on 9-20-2007
Actually, it says on the link that NBC is offering "free, ad-supported" downloads, not $5 downloads. Still not appealing.
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Mike Schramm said 12:14AM on 9-20-2007
Yeah Charles, I don't know if you're allowed to or not, so I hit it shallow and hoped the reference still came through.
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Simon Arch said 12:33AM on 9-20-2007
Wellll... I mean, okay, they're trying to get it. I'll give them points for that. It's not a very good try, and what they're doing shows they're still trying to force that poor genie back into her bottle, but it's a try. Too bad for them their content looks and smells like the south end of a northbound elephant...
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Ben the Dog said 3:44AM on 9-20-2007
NBC: "WHY ARE YOU DOWNLOADING OUR CONTENT! PIRATE!!!"
Me: "You don't offer it as a legal download and I don't see why I have to wait 2 years for it to reach my screen"
NBC: "Use NBC Direct!"
Me: "Will it work on my Mac?"
NBC: "Um, no. But I see you have a PC there with you as well"
Me: "Ok then. Will it work outside of USA?"
NBC: "Um, no."
Me: "Ok then. What are my options?"
NBC: [vapid look of someone who really hasn't done their homework]
PC-only, DRM-protected, region limited - doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what's going to happen, chaps.
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Jobjörn said 6:28AM on 9-20-2007
Can't you say "hookers" in TUAW posts?
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natalie said 8:32AM on 9-20-2007
I'm an American living in Lisbon, Portugal. I can't find a network that allows me to watch or download shows from here (i.e. TLC and curren free shows on NBC). I always get, "Sorry, download not available in your location). How will NBC Direct work? Will I be able to download the shows even though I'm living abroad? So far, NBC hasn't come out with the facts. Please advise before I start using a SlingBox with friends from back in the States.
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Scott said 9:16AM on 9-20-2007
It's sad that NBC doesn't realize that although Macs may be a small (but growing) part of the total market, they're extremely popular with exactly the audience they'd most like to reach: young people, well-educated people, people with high incomes. Their primary demographic target. (Not to mention people who work in the media, and can spread word-of-mouth.)
These people are much more likely to be Mac owners than other groups. And which platform isn't supported by Amazon Unbox or their fancy new download service? Macintosh. (Sure, Mac support "later this year"...we've heard that one before. Treat lots of people in your target audience like second-class citizens, and see how much good it does for you.)
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Tim H said 9:16AM on 9-20-2007
I don't have cable or satellite. I'm strictly over the air. I bought all of the last season of Battlestar Galactica and picked up an Apple TV in anticipation of not having to sit at my desk to watch it this year. Now NBC goes and does this... and it doesn't look like they'll even offer BSG as an option. Thanks a lot NBC Universal, you really know how to treat your viewers right, huh? Now I'll just have to bittorrent BSG or have a buddy with cable record it for me. So, they've gone from getting $2 an episode from me to getting $0. How in the world do they think this makes sense?
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