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]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
12-02-2007 @ 5:16PM
Ondra Soukup said...
no portable devices ? NBC, you suck...my TiVo does perform better...
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12-02-2007 @ 5:21PM
WiLLGT09 said...
"cannot be transferred to portable devices"...yet. Someone will find a way.
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12-02-2007 @ 5:22PM
jasseml said...
hulu works for mac.
i actually like it quite alot.
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12-03-2007 @ 1:14AM
Jon said...
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).
12-03-2007 @ 10:40AM
HZC said...
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.
12-02-2007 @ 5:38PM
andrew said...
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
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12-02-2007 @ 7:36PM
sixhoursago said...
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.
12-07-2007 @ 5:39AM
Ron Hebshie said...
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.
12-02-2007 @ 5:39PM
AJ said...
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.
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12-02-2007 @ 5:40PM
Phil said...
No more Telumundo!?!?! Oh NOES!!! What shall I do!
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12-02-2007 @ 5:44PM
error said...
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.
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12-02-2007 @ 5:45PM
Leonard Nimrod said...
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?
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12-02-2007 @ 5:46PM
mishom said...
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. :/
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12-02-2007 @ 5:51PM
Andrew said...
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.
12-02-2007 @ 5:55PM
running said...
its not on iTunes Store? download it on PirateBay!
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12-02-2007 @ 6:58PM
Piotr Malecki said...
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])
12-02-2007 @ 10:44PM
kroo said...
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 :).
12-03-2007 @ 11:55AM
conigs said...
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."
12-02-2007 @ 6:00PM
jigme said...
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.
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12-02-2007 @ 6:06PM
Karl said...
I just checked. The NBC Podcasts are still there. I think this is only for paid content.
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