Scrubs on iTunes?
As several readers have pointed out, the latest episodes of Scrubs (which started its final *sniff* season last week) are available on iTunes. But how can that be, Scrubs airs on NBC? Yes, yes - but thanks to the magic of large media conglomerates, Scrubs is not actually an NBC show. Scrubs is owned/produced by Disney (which owns ABC), via their
For example, NBC Universal owns/produces the show House, which airs on FOX. Thus, the current season of House in unavailable on iTunes. Conversely, FOX owns/produces My Name is Earl, for NBC, and like Scrubs, current episodes are available on iTunes. Weirdly enough, Ugly Betty, which is now also fully owned by NBC (because the chairman and head of programming for NBC is the owner of Reveille, which produces Ugly Betty and The Office, among others) does have its new episodes on iTunes - only because I assume they signed an agreement with Apple before NBC bought the company.
Of course, if the WGA does indeed strike, not much of this will matter anyway, because none of our new shows will be on TV or iTunes for us to watch. This concludes today's lesson in Television Business in the Digital Age.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Kevin said 1:13PM on 11-02-2007
Seriously, so confusing. I dont see why they dont allow a free downloadable show with commercials just like on TV.
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nick said 3:24PM on 11-02-2007
the writers strike wont truly affect us viewers till next year.
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nick said 3:25PM on 11-02-2007
oh and when i mean next year... i mean about a year from today
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Fritz Laurel said 4:11PM on 11-02-2007
@1 - because the commercials that are sold/packaged for an episode aren't always relevant a week later, and advertisers don't pay for them that way.
@2,3 - wrong. next year is two months away, but you could start seeing fallout from a strike as early as next week for shows like Tonight, Daily Show, etc. Production for this current season's shows isn't complete yet, let alone production for next season's pilots.
And the reason for the convoluted-ness of who produces what and who distributes what is because the shows are (in most cases) created and produced by production companies which have deals with certain studios. So, it's not as if NBC is actually producing a show that airs on Fox, for example, but that the production company has a deal with NBC, and a license to use the show is sold to Fox which then sells advertising.
The reason the industry is slow to change is because the way this industry works has been ironed out over the last 90 years or so and they really have it down to a science. Add x and y at just the right time and you get max profits out the other side of the equation. Because of this, everyone is wary of adding more variables because what they have works so well they don't want to muck with it.
But, everyone is being forced to change with the consumers' demand, so everyone's playing a waiting game, waiting for someone else to try something first to see if it works or not before copying their tactics.
Cheers,
FL
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xatlasm said 4:15PM on 11-02-2007
Seinfeld was originally aired on NBC (I assume NBC produced it too, but is now rerun on FOX, TBS, and other networks. Alas, Seinfeld still isn't on iTunes...
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Brian said 4:45PM on 11-02-2007
Ugly Betty is a production of ABC Television Studios (like Scrubs)--it's not owned by NBC. Yes, Ben Silverman (the current co-chairman of NBC) is an executive producer on the show b/c it's co-produced by his production company Reville, but that company isn't part of NBC.
@ 5 - Seinfeld aired on NBC but is owned by Sony Pictures Television, so it would be up to Sony to put it on iTunes. It runs now on stations/cable networks (like FOX or TBS as you say) in syndication--but that's on an individual basis so TBS and your local FOX affiliate must both have deals with Sony to run Seinfeld (now that it's not on NBC anymore, it doesn't belong to a particular network).
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Fritz Laurel said 5:16PM on 11-02-2007
And to confuse matters even more, Seinfeld was produced at Warner Bros. studios...
Cheers,
FL
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MrShabby said 6:48PM on 11-02-2007
"1. Seriously, so confusing. I dont see why they dont allow a free downloadable show with commercials just like on TV."
I totally agree.
From a marketing perspective it would be BETTER than TV because you get EXACT feedback data as to how many unique people have seen that advertising space.
I'm never paying for a TV show, it's money down the drain.
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tv junkie said 11:15PM on 11-03-2007
Reville is not own by NBC, and Ugly Betty is an ABC Studios property.
and what's the point of buying Seinfeld on iTunes anyway, it's on at least 5 channels everyday.
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Grant said 8:53PM on 11-06-2007
I am dying without my House. I want to give them cold hard cash, but they are more interested in this power struggle with Apple. Another poor schmuck forced into the gray market of torrenting TV shows.
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