Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Apple Corporate, iTunes
NBC officially removed from the iTunes Store
Now that December has arrived and NBC's contract has expired, all of their content has been removed from the iTunes Store, as promised. That means no more Bravo, mun2, NBC, NBC News, CNBC, NBC Sports, Sci Fi, Sleuth, Telemundo or USA Network (Go ahead and look. We'll wait).It looks like the two companies were unable to patch things up, not surprising considering their ugly, public fighting. Good luck to NBC with hulu and that wonderful NBC Direct service, which sounds great.
It requires Internet Explorer, the NBC Direct Player (Windows only) and the latest .Net framework. Videos are available for only 7 days after they initially air, and disappear from your computer 48 hours after you begin watching them (unless you remember to renew your license before then). Also, videos will only play on the computer used for the initial download.
Mac users cannot use the service, though NBC says a Mac version is "...planned for 2008." Finally, downloads cannot be transferred to portable devices.
Awesome.
[Via MacDailyNews]
Get a WordPress.com Blog
![TUAW [Cafepress]](http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.tuaw.com/media/tuaw-cafepress-promo.png)
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
NBC SUCKS! said 6:51PM on 2-22-2008
NBC you guys are so stupid all the other networks constantly kick your butt. This is just another way to show your inferiority to the other networks. I love the office and now I can't but the newer episodes. I am so pissed NBC get off your ass and make up with itunes unless you like being a sucky network that makes fans of your shows pissed!
Reply
Ondra Soukup said 5:16PM on 12-02-2007
no portable devices ? NBC, you suck...my TiVo does perform better...
Reply
WiLLGT09 said 5:21PM on 12-02-2007
"cannot be transferred to portable devices"...yet. Someone will find a way.
Reply
jasseml said 5:22PM on 12-02-2007
hulu works for mac.
i actually like it quite alot.
Reply
Jon said 1:14AM on 12-03-2007
True, hulu is pretty cool. But iTunes allowed you to buy the shows and watch them anytime on your computer and portable device. Until NBC Direct comes to Mac, there is no equivalent to that (*mumbles* besides BitTorrent).
HZC said 10:40AM on 12-03-2007
Well, whether hulu is nice or not, I wouldn't know because I signed up for it since October 30th and haven't been accepted to their beta yet.
... and I don't care anymore.
AJ said 5:39PM on 12-02-2007
Oh well. I was happy supporting NBC through iTunes. Now I'll just record it with my EyeTV over HD Antenna and through Cable. I'd rather spend 5 minutes removing commercials than pay for a service that doesn't work on my Mac.
Poor form, NBC. Watch your sales tank. If you own NBC stock, I suggest you sell.
Reply
andrew said 5:38PM on 12-02-2007
i bought a season pass to chuck and i still want my epeisodes or my 20 dollars back but i just checked and they still have it on itunes. thats odd
Reply
sixhoursago said 7:36PM on 12-02-2007
While Chuck airs on NBC, it is produced by another studio. It seems that the iTunes deals are made with the studios banking the productions rather than airing the show.
Ron Hebshie said 5:39AM on 12-07-2007
CHUCK is still on iTunes as in the NBC series JOURNEYMAN. NBC does not produce those series. CHUCK is from Warner Bros. and JOURNEYMAN is from 20th Century Fox. Unlike greedy, backward thinking NBC, those two studios remain iTunes content partners.
Phil said 5:40PM on 12-02-2007
No more Telumundo!?!?! Oh NOES!!! What shall I do!
Reply
error said 5:44PM on 12-02-2007
The best way to let NBC know their business model sucks is to simply not buy content... but I guess there will be plenty of silly consumers using this 'service'.
People in the US should be glad their store actually offers video, in most European iTunes Stores you can't even buy a music videos.
Reply
Leonard Nimrod said 5:45PM on 12-02-2007
What a bunch of buffoons. They have, to use a cliché, cut off their nose to spite their face.
This was an additonal source of revenue for them. One that has not only saved at least one show from being canceled but also helped others thrive. This could have survived allongside their free, commercial ridden alternatives without consequence.
Can they really be this dumb about business?
Reply
mishom said 5:46PM on 12-02-2007
Also, I can't seem to find the show "House M.D.," its on the Fox network but I'm almost positive its an NBC show (after the show I always see the NBC Universal thingy).
Also, despite "My Name Is Earl" being on NBC, its actually made by Fox and because of that, you can still find it on the iTunes store.
Just saying! Its weird how one studio makes a show and plays it on another. :/
Reply
Andrew said 5:51PM on 12-02-2007
It's not that strange that networks and studios owned by other networks cooperate in this way. It's all about the demographics of their respective audiences. If you can't sell "My Name Is Earl" on one channel, maybe you can make good money on another. It's a business that's all.
running said 5:55PM on 12-02-2007
its not on iTunes Store? download it on PirateBay!
Reply
Piotr Malecki said 6:58PM on 12-02-2007
Better yet, grab it from usenet - most tv shows are available with 30min to 1hr after airing (with commercials cut out, in almost HD quality [between 640x232 wide or 640x480] and par2 files to make sure that you get exactly the file(s) that you're trying to [no missing parts or checksum errors])
kroo said 10:44PM on 12-02-2007
http://tvshows.sourceforge.net/ FTW...
NBC's screwing themselves over here, they just don't know it yet :). Add me to the huge list of folks who used to buy their content on itunes, but was forced into piracy :).
conigs said 11:55AM on 12-03-2007
Wow, never before have I heard of SD frame sizes (actually, not even SD since full SD is 720x486) being referred to as "almost HD quality."
jigme said 6:00PM on 12-02-2007
ok everybody - back to the torrents! and i really *am* prepared to pay you, too - but if you keep behabving like total idiots and making it hard, or even impossible, then i, and *many* otherds, will just find another way to get our content...
Apple will lose too, in the long run. they need the content to sell the hardware, after all.
Jobs is right to think outside the box on digital content provision, tho': the interweb has broken the old paradigm - DRM is unworkable - artists/labels/studios/etc. HAVE to move with the times and find a new business model. until you do, people - we, the ordinary, happy-to-pay-for-it--if-it's-sensibly-provided masses, will continue to steal your stuff.
Reply