Archive for the ‘Apple’ Category
NBC Universal Cancels iTunes Contract
NBC Universal announced that it will stop selling it programming on Apple iTunes when its current contract runs out in December 2007. NBC is required to give Apple 90 days notice to cancel the contract or otherwise the contract would continue with current terms. NBC wants stricter piracy controls, bundling options for TV programming and movies and higher pricing than Apple is unwilling to provide. NBC is planning to offer a new service called hulu.com to offer video content. Currently hulu.com is accepting email addresses for a private beta starting in October 2007.
NBC’s thought process to pull out of Apple’s iTunes store is questionable. To fight piracy NBC should be working to make their programming readily available, easy to use and charge a reasonable price. Not by removing their content from iTunes and raising the price to a reported $4.99 per download. NBC has to be out of their mind wanting to charge so much for a single episode.
The hulu.com venture is a partial step in the right direction. In addition, NBC needs to provide their content on other platforms, including Microsoft’s Zune Marketplace and other sites that support Microsoft supported video formats. hulu.com is a partnership between NBC and News Corp. and should offer support to other portable media devices than Apple’s iPod. However, that is still to be seen. It may only be an online service and not offering downloads.
It is as if NBC is taking one step forward with hulu.com and then taking another step back with removing their content from iTunes. In the end the consumer loses and NBC loses. The consumer will continue to have limited choices to receive legal content and NBC will do nothing to control piracy or increase revenues due to an all bust certain decrease in sales.
