Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iTS, Video, iTunes
Apple: NBC's pricing hasn't changed
Here's the final humiliation for NBC in the whole contest between it and Apple -- while one of NBC's execs claimed that Apple made some concessions to the network to get Peacock content back in the iTunes store (after it was unceremoniously pulled last year over pricing arguments), Apple just plain says that's not true -- there were no concessions, and NBC crawled back on its own.Sure, it's a little high school of Apple to call NBC out like that, but it's not like NBC has been gracefully handling the whole thing either -- execs have whined and moaned the whole time that they don't like the iTunes model, and even threatened to go to Amazon for good. But in the end, making Apple's money won out over making no money at all. Even though NBC brass are still convinced that Apple is giving them ground on pricing (and on the pricing of DVD movies), Apple says that's not the case -- the pricing structure has been the same all along.
At any rate, it's the consumer that wins -- no matter what Apple's prices are, at least NBC content is back in the iTunes store for those willing to pay for it.
[via Daring Fireball]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
G said 8:10AM on 9-12-2008
It may seem petty for Apple to say anything at all, but they can't let NBC strut around like they just got over because all the other idiot, covetous suits at CBS, ABC, FOX et al will come crying.
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garrick said 8:35AM on 9-12-2008
But will the consumers, who have no doubt found alternate methods of viewing their favorite shows, return? I think probably not.
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trainwrecka said 9:16AM on 9-12-2008
What alternative let's you take it on your iPhone, iPod, and Apple TV?
Nothing beats the simplicity of purchasing right off the Apple TV in my opinion. I was getting tired of fetching House episodes off of Amazon Unbox via my TiVo HD. It worked, just not well.
Cetha said 9:02AM on 9-12-2008
though you can watch most of the currently airing stuff on NBC.com for free, so no need to pay for it at all
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Christina Warren said 9:15AM on 9-12-2008
Which is really a far bigger win for NBC than Apple will ever want to admit. Hulu, in the US (and that's where Apple makes almost all of its money n TV sales), is an unabashed success. With the truly insane network ratings for the Olympics (I personally didn't think we'd ever see a 35 share on a Friday night in a non-world crisis situation again in my lifetime), and the fact that NBC was able to sell advertisers on rates for total viewing, including online, for Fall, the early launches of NBC shows on Hulu and whatnot, the market for buying a copy of a show to watch in anything but a portable viewing situation is quickly going to dwindle.
Especially since the quality of the streaming videos via Hulu is the same as the SD episodes -- and if they use Silverlight or Flex or Adobe AIR, the potential for HD streaming for high speed connection viewers is already as good.
Not saying Apple can't tout NBC "crawling back" -- but let's be real: Apple lost a lot more than NBC lost. It lost the biggest content provider to its network (in terms of actual downloads), NBC started its own advertiser supported free service with Fox that took much of the market with them (and that gets them around pesky details like paying writers for digital sales).
That puts Apple at an inherit disadvantage when it comes to video. I don't think it is a surprise that most of the Let's Rock presentation was based in music. They have the market in music. They don't have the market in movies or television, and they likely won't.
James Donevan said 9:08AM on 9-12-2008
"Sure, it's a little high school of Apple to call NBC out like that"
Not likely. Apple has hundreds of corporate clients who are advised no company has special pricing rights in the Store. If Apple were to let the NBC statement stand, other corporations would inevitably question any special treatment for NBC and the controversy would sour other business relationships. Eddy was simply nipping any potential controversy in the bud.
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LuminousNerd said 9:12AM on 9-12-2008
It isn't "high school" and it isn't at all petty. If the other content providers thought someone was getting a deal, they'd all be demanding deals. Apple has to explain the truth of the matter.
NBC is the only petty one here, spreading this crap in the first place.
garrick: your comment suggests you have no knowledge of the market whatsoever. Apple has a lot more customers for its movie downloads now than it did then. Then it was just starting up, they really didn't lose very many people. And even if that weren't the case, the answer is yes. People will always come back to Apple, because Apple does things right.
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Galley said 9:38AM on 9-12-2008
Virtually every prime time show can be viewed online for FREE, with very little commercial interruption. True, it's not very portable, but it's free!
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Peter Kirn said 10:32AM on 9-12-2008
Wait a minute -- the consumer wins because Apple is setting pricing and has an effective monopoly on this distribution channel? I'm looking forward to HD downloads of Galactica, but I can't quite follow your logic. If that's a consumer win, um....
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King Fysel said 12:29PM on 9-12-2008
Ok, let me see if I understand the logic in some of the comments here:
People can get their music for free (I believe the technical term is 'stealing') yet Apple is the biggest music retailer. But if people can get their shows (that include advertising, unlike music) for free then Apple is doomed in the video market.
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