Written by: Michael Hickerson (SoSF Staff Journalist)
Of all the big networks, NBC is the one that just seems to “get” how to take advantage of the unlimited possibilities of new content delivery systems. Whether it’s keeping entire seasons of shows on-line (with limited commercials) to win new fans, help fans keep up with the show or allow fans to relive their favorite moments, or offering a wealth of extras to Net savy fans (“Heroes”), NBC is leading the pack.
But they’re not content to rest on their laurels and instead are pushing the envelope again to generate buzz for their upcoming fall projects.
Starting September 10, NBC will make available the pilot episodes of some of their most anticipated shows of the fall via the On-Demand service on many cable systems. The shows that fans can get a full sneak-peak at are: “Bionic Woman”, “Chuck”, “Journeyman” and “Life”. There will also be a 30-minute special that previews the entire fall line-up on NBC.
Partners include Comast, Time Warner Cable, Charter, Cox, DISH Network and DirecTV.
The move is being called “unprecedented” and hopefully more networks will figure out what NBC is doing right and continue to push the envelope to allow fans and viewers to take advantage of new avenues of content delivery.
Awesome! I’m really interested in those 4 shows.
Damn, my cable company is not listed. But every network should do this. Last December Showtime showed their Sleeper Cell season 1 on the free portion of their On Demand channel. That convinced me to subscribe to Showtime and ever since I’ve enjoyed Dexter, Weeds and other stuff on their network. It’s a good ploy, more companies should try it.
So much for NBC ‘getting it’.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/31/technology/31NBC.html
If they really get it, they wouldn’t be ditching the most popular place to purchase their shows.
We also had a story about this in our News Brief posted early this morning.
I think this was probably a saavy move on the part of NBC Universal. First, it saves them a ton of money as Apple has been increasing its cost to providers on content on the landmark iTunes site, second, it affords GE (owner of NBC) better piracy control over their content, and finally, their own NBC.com online site has seen significant growth and popularity over the last year, especially with the site’s decision to offer more first-run programming from the web.
I think you will be seeing more of the big boys, such as CBS, ABC and Fox moving away from iTunes as they begin developing their own unique web presence geared for whatever particular niche’ audience they are trying to reach.
This move away from iTunes affords them more fexibility, control and freedom from Jobs’ built-in restraints and increased costs for doing business with Apple.
What these providers loose in audience they gain in more say over how their product is handled. And, they are betting that they will recapture that audience on their own sites over time with lower pricing and even free downloads for certain entries.
Low overhead and expected gain gives them the leverage they need to wait it out.
“it affords GE (owner of NBC) better piracy control over their content”
Better piracy control? Considering there is no known ways to remove the DRM from the videos from iTunes that is a load of hogwash. What better piracy controls do they want? To lock you to one computer to watch it on? Only watch it once then it gets deleted? I got news for NBC, all the pirated copies of their shows are coming from their HD broadcast channel, not iTunes.
“control and freedom from Jobs’ built-in restraints and increased costs for doing business with Apple.”
You mean the built in restraints that the content holders, like NBC, demanded of Apple? What about the restraints you are going to see now in response to their demand for more piracy control? And increased cost? What increased cost? In fact they have increased their costs by being the provider for the bandwidth. And what if you have to restream everytime you want to watch the video? More bandwidth costs.
“What these providers loose in audience they gain in more say over how their product is handled. And, they are betting that they will recapture that audience on their own sites over time with lower pricing and even free downloads for certain entries.”
And there was nothing stopping them from continuing to do what they wanted with their own content on their own site. The only thing they did here was limit custmer options.
In case no one noticed NBC shows have consistantly been the top sellers for iTunes. The iPod is the number one selling portable video player with rumored new updates next week that may make it an even better video player. Fact is this was a bone headed decision no matter how you look at it.
It’s obvious you feel pretty strongly about this Chris. One thing I’ve learned through all my years of doing entertainment news, things are never as they appear on the surface. There is probably a lot more involved with this decision to drop iTunes, or as Shakespeare once said — “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of….” 😉
I can’t see why all the big networks don’t release latest episode’s of their shows on bit torrent a few hours before the show is due to be aired and include adverts. They could alleviate some bandwidth this way, and the early release would put them ahead of pirated torrents and I guess quite a few people would use the legal versions. I know that I would, the reason that I use torrents at the moment isn’t because they are free, it’s because I get the content I want, when I want it and in the way that I want it.
People get their shows from iTunes because that is where it is available. Regardless of whatever restraints or requirements are involved on either side, why would NBC want to pay Apple to do something they can do themselves? It’s just business and provided they don’t royally screw it up by providing substandard audio/video quality, it’s a smart business decision.
Sam says,
“This move away from iTunes affords them more flexibility, control and freedom from Jobs’ built-in restraints and increased costs for doing business with Apple.”
However, this does not provide more flexibility for consumers. It means higher costs per episode and going to multiple sources to find the content they want. It will almost certainly push more consumers to use Bit Torrent and other alternate sources. Also, I don’t want to hear how only tech savvy consumers will use these sources. I taught my Mom to use Bit Torrent.
NBC wants to increase their revenue which is a normal objective for any business. However, driving off even a moderate percentage of consumers is not a good long term business move. Unless NBC and the other networks can actually deliver a superior product through their own content delivery service; which I have doubts they can do, I can’t see this as being the master stroke they envision.