Sep
NBC Offering Shows for Free Online
Written by Brenda on September 19th, 2007
So NBC has been busy this summer, they got into a major feud with Apple and there iTunes service and no longer allow TV shows to be sold on iTunes which for many of us was a big blow. Then NBC went straight to Amazon to use there Unbox service to digital distribute there shows. However today NBC announced that they will be taking many of there shows online on there own website to be distributed free of charge, however with advertisements. The new service is called NBC Direct, and here is a snippet of the official press release from NBC.
NBC.com today announced the launch of its new service, “NBC Direct,” which will allow users to download and view NBC’s popular primetime and late-night entertainment programming on their desktops for up to one week after broadcast. This new feature provides yet another platform on which fans will be able to enjoy NBC Entertainment content. The announcement was made by Vivi Zigler, Executive Vice President, NBC Digital Entertainment.
“With the creation of this new service, we are acknowledging that now, more than ever, viewers want to be in control of how, when and where they consumer their favorite entertainment,” said Zigler. “Not only does this feature give them more control, but it also gives them a higher quality video experience.”
The first version of this new feature, which will begin beta testing in October, will allow users to download full length episodes for viewing on Windows based PCs. Each original episode will be licensed to users for viewing through “NBC Direct” for one week following broadcast and will then expire. The downloaded file will provide users with an improved overall viewing experience compared to traditional streaming video. The list of programs available at launch will include “Heroes,” “The Office,” “Life,” “Bionic Woman,” “30 Rock,” “Friday Night Lights,” “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”
Free as long as you have a PC. Free as long as it’s not an iPod. I’m a Mac owner, a market that is increasing and this plan leaves us out.
Aside from free only if you have a PC, it is also only available free if you are a resident of the United States. Seems NBC and Amazon need to straighten out more than one small catch. In this time of satellites and international licensing, do they think that only people in the United States were/will be fans of “Bionic Woman”? Or is it that they think only that particular niche deserves to have access? There are a couple of CEO’s who might want to rethink what kind of image they are portraying their companies as. Ostracising people for any reason is as archaic and narrow-minded as it gets in these modern times.