NBC exec slams iTunes revenues/business model

I just find it highly ironic that NBC, primarily a television studio, should focus MORE on how to produce quality TV shows than on how to distribute their crappy shows to the public. THEY ARE DEAD LAST among the top 4 networks by a long shot.

If they had better shows, maybe people would download more than $15M worth. I mean it's hard enough for NBC to find people to watch their shows on TV for FREE, let alone get people to pay more than $1.99 for them.

Just found this comment on the Hulu Blog so funny I decided to quote it in its full lenght:

"I live in San Francisco, but frequently travel, often internationally, for business. I love iTunes for two reasons, and only two reasons: 1) I can take my shows with me on long plane and train rides (and watch them on the beautiful screen of my iPhone), and 2) when I'm in a country with little American television (as I am now, in Seoul, South Korea), I can still keep up with my favorite shows, many of which WERE on NBC. Hulu fails in both of these areas. 30 Rock, The Office, and Heroes were literally my three favorite shows, and I discovered AND almost exclusively watched all of them on iTunes. I haven't seen a single episode of any of those 3 shows this season. Not only was I fan of these shows, but I was an evangelist. As Malcolm Gladwell would say, I was both a "maven" and a "connector" of these shows - that is to say I was one of the first viewers, and was the type to tell all my friends - by word, by blast e-mail or otherwise - that these were the shows to see. Well, in that same spirit, I think I'm going to be telling my friends that Hulu is a bust. It has a nice interface, or even an excellent interface, but under the futuristic color palettes and clean UI of web 2.0 sites lies the real reason some of them have caught on: they focus on their users. And you, I'm afraid, haven't done that. You look like a giant trying to do ballet. Somehow you squeezed on the tutu, but in your execution, thus far anyways, you look clumsy, heavyhanded, and ultimately out of your league. Truly embrace the spirit of new media (which is focusing on your users, even above designing sexy interfaces), or move out of the way... --- NOTE: the streaming video of Hulu doesn't work outside of the US"

matteo has a good point about the advertisers behind Zucker's move. NBC's board is probably putting pressure on Zucker because the advertisers are putting pressure on them and the shareholders.

Not being all that familiar with the HuLu.com site, but if they are putting ads into the shows they have out there, then the whole advertising argument makes sense.

From an operations standpoint, NBC didn't really have the overhead hassles. They delivered content to Apple and Apple had the store front headaches.

Unless people flock to Hulu.com and NBC, I predict this will not be much of an improvement for NBC.

I don't see RCA, Sony, JVC or any of the other major TV manufactures sharing their TV set profits with broadcasters, what the hell is he crying about. You you want a pice of the Apple Pie you have to invest in Apple just like everyone else. There are no free rides, I hope Zuckerman gets tossed out on his ass....

BTW hop you all boycott NBC, Universal and Hulu just to show how much of a prick Zucker is

Zucker is an idiot, and is only trying to placate his advertisers and make the writers think there is no money in the Internet distribution model (because that's really what the looming strike is about).

I ditched cable this fall. My sole connection to the outside world is my DSL connection. I have a spare PC connected to my HDTV in the living room. My plan was to buy my 4 fave shows off of iTunes this year (Office, Heroes, How I Met Your Mother, and 30 Rock). When NBC pulled their toys from iTunes, I went the only other route I could - BitTorrent. And you know what? It's a higher quality, more consumer friendly product. The files download faster than iTunes. The file is of higher quality (read: HD) than iTunes. The file is usually available just a few hours after it airs (iTunes was next day).

So NBC (and the other networks) are competing against two other mediums - over the air television (free), and BitTorrent (free). So they **only** made $15 mil of iTunes. That's $15 mil that cost them near zero to produce. I wonder how that profit compares to their DVD sales from the same lot of shows that were on iTunes.

Cubfan is right. If NBC were smart, they would seed their own Torrents of the shows, with advertising included inline. The shows are already being distributed/watched in this format, why not offer a inject some ads and please your advertisers and your customers.

Answer: Because Zucker is a one dumb motherzucker, that's why.

What makes them think they deserve a slice of hardware revenue? Nobody buys an iPod to watch NBC shows. I'm not surprised at the $15 million in sales though. Why pay $2 for an episode when BitTorrent offers better resolution and faster availability?

I guess in NBC's mind, giving up 15 million in revenue is the cost of dismantling the iTunes machine (fraid its going to take more than that). Taking their ball and going home may make NBC feel vindicated but it isn't making them money. They are acting like pouty children who didn't get there way, harming themselves just so they can spite others.

Why does it have to be one or the other in the first place? Why not do BOTH iTunes AND Hulu? Streaming video and downloadable video different markets. And that way NBC wont have to come crawling back to iTunes with egg on their faces if Hulu fails.

1.99 per show doesn't sound that expensive, but who buys just a few episodes? If you want to purchase an entire season, you're paying as much or more than the DVD set, and that's just ridiculous.

Except the DVD sets come out 6-9 months later. Its not like paying a bit more something when its brand new is that odd a concept. And you are in fact paying for the convenience of portability and the luxury of no commercials.

1.99 an episode (35 bucks a season or so) seems fair to me considering I save 40-60 bucks a month not subscribing to cable. I can watch the 2 or 3 seasons of shows I really care about via iTunes (BSG and Lost) and keep a Netflix account to rent other tv shows I don't have to see right away.

Movies are another beast and I wont download them from iTunes because those are collectable. TV shows are much more disposable in my mind.

If the networks were smart, they would offer their shows for free DOWNLOAD with ads embedded in them. I wouldn't mind seeing ads in a free episode if I could save it and watch it on a portable device(iPhone).

Since NBC pulled their shows from iTunes I've learned how to bittorrent. Thank you Transmission. Thank you TV Shows and most of all thank you NBC!

Mind you, NBC, if you were to put your content back in iTunes then I would start to pay for it again and stop downloading it. Because basically I am an honest person.