Rich Fiscus
4 Dec 2007 0:20
In a move that comes as a surprise to virtually no one, NBC Universal (NBC U) won't be selling TV shows on iTunes since their contract with Apple expired last weekend.
Problems between Apple and NBC U flared up over iTunes' pricing policies. NBC U executives felt their revenue of $15 million from iTunes sales last year would have been higher if they were given the ability to set different prices for more popular content. Apple's policy is to sell all TV episodes for $1.99, while NBC wanted to sell episodes of some shows for as much as $2.99.
"We had 40% of the market share on the video side of iTunes, we were most popular," NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker said at a keynote address Monday at the UBS Global Media Conference in New York. "It wasn't the game changer for us that it was for Apple. We would like to be part of it. But nowhere does the reseller set the wholesale price. We wanted price flexibility and greater protection against piracy. Over time, we hope to work all that out."
NBC content has also been pulled from YouTube in order to promote NBC's new venture with News Corp., Hulu. Hulu provides both full TV episodes and clips from various shows, and even offers a few movies. Hulu's content is free, but it's currently in closed beta testing.
Source: Variety