NBC to Offer Free Video Download Service

Damocles the Elder writes "Apparently NBC realized that people on the internet do watch TV, because after breaking up with Apple over iTunes pricing schemes, they're setting up their own free service." From the article "NBC first contracted with Amazon to offer its programs for sale to downloading devices like MP3 players. Now it is establishing its own downloading service, which NBC executives say they expect to become a viable competitor to iTunes. "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 consume their favorite entertainment," said Vivi Zigler, the executive vice president of NBC Digital Entertainment. "Not only does this feature give them more control, but it also gives them a higher quality video experience."

AntiTrust yet again....

[Anonymous Coward]

Is anyone suspicious about the fact that Microsoft has a HUGE stake in NBC and all of a sudden NBC's content is pulled from Apple's store?

Criminals.

iTunes causes music piracy?

[Dekortage]

FTA:

Mr. Gaspin said, "piracy was and is our No. 1 priority." He said that the music industry had been devastated by the free exchange of music, much of it facilitated by iTunes.

Holy smokes: the most succesful legal online music distribution service on the Internet is actually a haven for piracy? Up is down, war is peace. Next up: the beef market has been terribly devastated by the popularity of McDonald's restaurants.

Re:AntiTrust yet again....

[larry bagina]

I'm more suspicious of your "facts". NBC is owned by GE (market cap 427 billion vs MSFT's 268 billion). Maybe you're thinking of MSNBC (a stupid idea), which Microsoft is no longer interested in.

Not as good as it sounds

[KClaisse]

Well, I read TFA, and I have to say, it's not such a great thing.

The service will allow customers to download full episodes of NBC shows for seven days on Windows-based PCs. The file will expire after the seven days.

So it sounds like they are saying, this is Windows only. Lots of Mac and Linux users are going to be disappointed.

Commercials will be embedded in the programs and viewers will not be able to skip through them.

...

... consumers will pay NBC directly to download episodes of the shows.

So wait, we have to pay to see un-skippable commercials? Forget that! They aren't going to win over the people who are simply TiVo'ing their favorite shows, or (god forgive) the ones who downloading them elsewhere. NBC is asking a little too much here.

Re:pirates win

[ketilwaa]

Maybe like put putting it on Miro? http://www.getmiro.com/ [getmiro.com]

Besides, stopping people from skipping through the video doesn't really correlate with "viewers want to be in control of how, when and where they consume their favorite entertainment"

--Ketil

Used Amazon Unbox

[Enry]

I've used Amazons Unbox on my Tivo HD [hackrag.com] and downloaded the NBC pilots for Bionic Woman and Journeyman. Neither had commercials, so ran in about 42-45 minutes. Both were in SD format, which I should have expected given the amount of bandwidth required for HD, but I could set up a download from amazon.com at work, go home and then watch a show.

Neither of these were shows I might have watched otherwise (or told the Tivo to record), but I may watch a few episodes of both now and give them a chance. Thanks NBC! Now bring back Studio 60 and all will be well with the world.

And so it begins:

[hcdejong]

the Balkanisation of online video. Instead of being able to find everything in one place, I'm back to using Google to find individual shows. Also, NBC currently doesn't allow video on its site to be seen outside the US, I suspect the new service won't be any better in this regard.

At least we could count on Apple wanting to distribute these shows worldwide; I doubt NBC will want the trouble of allowing worldwide access (they'd rather sell the rights to the show to a national broadcaster instead).

Re:Yeah, whatever...

[KingSkippus]

Grab the video stream,

I.e. "Install software on your computer to do something you shouldn't need to."

edit out the commercial

I.e. "Install more software on your computer to do something you shouldn't need to, and spend at least as long as the show is futzing around with editing it."

Frankly, I'd rather just not watch the show than to go through all of this trouble. Other people will probably be downloading it illegally to avoid the trouble and still watch the show. I like my solution better, though, because 1) I get to do other more interesting things, and 2) I don't help perpetuate the popularity of shows that are made by companies that want to control when, where, and how I watch stuff that I'm willing to pay for.

Now playing: battle of the loose verticals

[snowwrestler]

In this corner you have: Disney/Pixar/ABC + Apple + Google

And in that corner you have: GE/Universal/NBC + Microsoft

The industry has learned from AOL/Time Warner. Why buy each other when you can get the same advantages from partnerships and board placements?

What are we thinking the odds are that the new NBC pay-for-download service will be based on Microsoft's DRM? Anyone?

Re:Yeah, whatever...

[Ajehals]

Not to mention DVD's plus young kids don't mix. I tend to rip and transcode the originals, store them and then make them available via NFS to whatever box the kids want to watch them on, the amount I spend on storage (which is minimal anyway with 200Gb Sata Drives at @£25.) is immediately recouped by the fact that the disks are not destroyed within three months. Although I guess that causes issues for some people's business models (By reducing repeat sales) and probably means I'll see more adverts..