Comments on: Report: Apple should kiss and make up with NBC...fast
Forrester analyst James McQuivey says Apple needs to supply iPod owners with premium content and can't afford to let a top TV network get away.
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with NBC. Then, Greg says "that only 19 percent of iTunes users
buy videos from the site. Of that group, the average user
spends only $30 on video, accounting for less than $100 million
in sales for the first half of 200".
Why should Apple play with NBC if they count for so little profit?
I'm more interested in knowing how much money NBC is losing
by not having their content on iTunes.
that is so minute to their sales strategy and profile. They have
other contracts that are in place long term. If NBC is giving content
away, why would Apple want to "sell" it.
If someone wants it bad enough, they'll go to the NBC sites and get
it there. Tivo is the primary way most people are preserving
content, not iTunes. Movies are a different kettle of fish.
site is poorly designed with a cumbersome, wowee TV interface and
the shows are marred by the same pair of unskippable
commercials playing through every break. What a shame. If I can
avoid giving money, eyes, etc. to NBC (in whatever manifestation) I
will.
of the video, I expected it to be lower. However, it certainly is no
where near the quality of the offerings on the iTMS, especially at
full screen.
Yes, the NBC site is like most media sites.
writers. You can only offer free reruns for so long before even the
most Homer Simpson type of couch potato figures it out.
There is still some real good $1.99 video on the iTunes Store.
Check out the short films.
don't know how you can reason allowing NBC to dictate higher
prices to Apple is going to be good for consumers.
Sure, it's great that NBC provides it for free on their site, but then
to try and strong arm "retailers" like Apple and Amazon on pricing
seems ludicrous. It's like saying no to free money...cutting off your
nose to spite your face!
weenies at Microsoft did for Universal Music for sales of the Zune.
30% went to NBC shows (that is if the "19% videos" means only
TV shows). It would appear then that not very many people
buying iPods and/or using iTunes are doing so for the NBC TV
programming.
I'd better reason that Apple would have a lot more to lose by
opening Pandora's Box of price increases. Then people would be
less incline to purchase any video media due to high prices; THIS
would definitely impact iPod sales and thus Apple...not NBC TV
shows.
year. Viewing it using AppleTV was a very good experience.
However, looks like I'll be going to Amazon Unbox this year. The
Amazon player is terrible, but you can watch the downloaded
files with vanilla WMP. Picture quality is great but it's a small
hassle to connect my laptop to the TV so I'd still rather use
Apple TV if I could. The streaming options like that provided on
NBC.com are garbage. Those will never fly.
NBC says to Apple we want to charge MORE for this content.
Apple says no.
So NBC gives it away for free?!?
So instead of making a some money they are both making nothing.
Interesting business model.
Hope it works out for them.
the episodes for free with mandatory commercials.
I missed an episode, etc, etc, so I went to the site to watch it.
It was okay until the commercial break. Ads I didn't have any
interest in, but had to click past, IIRC.
So, back to our story... until the second commercial break.
It got too irritating. A TV can blare it's commercials, but I can
ignore it.
The website showing the commercials was able to push products
right at me.
I started to get the sneaking suspicion that the website was able to
hone it's commercial pitch somehow... tailored to my interests.
I didn't like it, and quit.
So I don't know if this approach will make NBC any more money
than selling outright on iTunes, but I do know, selling on iTunes is a
lot cleaner and less manipulative.
When the season is over, I throw them onto a DVD for safe
keeping. Since DVD's cost about $.10, it's no big deal. Anything
more than $1.99 would be criminal.
At $1.99 a show, it's still less than Cable, but without all the crappy
commercials, and you don't have to search for what you want. It's
on your own time, and your own tastes.
Fact is this: I will continue to buy any iPod that meets my needs. I will continue to give them as gifts. I enjoy using iTunes and Apple's products. I will not buy/download NBC's content from their website or any other website if it is not made available via iTunes. I like Apple's pricing model very much.
30 (percent) of video download sales. Any supposed backlash
against NBC will not materialize because NBC has made its
content available, for free, on NBC.com and six other major
portals sites."
That sounds like political double talk. And stupid, at that. So
now NBC pays to host a web site to give away content that Apple
was paying them to sell? ***?
I don't have to buy it from iTunes or watch a crappy low res
window. I can record it on my DVR, or I can use EyeTV and
export it to iTunes. NBC gets nothing for this, other than the
original ad revenue. iTunes was an added bonus to NBC, and
NBC is not much of a necessity for Apple.
NBC's Zucker is none too bright apparently. THey could've taken the iTunes money and built hulu to try and kill iTunes - Apple doesn't care - instead, they spend hundreds of millions to launch hulu with no more revenue from itunes.
hulu - shows good for 48 HOURS after download. Up only after 7 days - ONLY works with XO, not Vista, nor Mac, Not Linux + Ad (no plural - they re-run the same ad during the entire show you're watching).
Scary that Zucker is the "digital" brains at NBC-U.
NBC/CBS/ABC are not the juggernauts that they once were. Fox, Cable TV, and even ugly little upstarts like The CW have, as a group, long ago snatched the majority of eyeballs away from the 'Big Three'.
About the only thing The Big Three are really good for nowadays is the local news (which is funny, because the news departments of both affiliate and network were once the oft-abused red-headed stepchildren - now they're the biggest eyeball draw left, unless you're Fox).
Considering that the average episode of NBC/CBS/ABC television programming contains nearly 33-35% advertisements now (often more if it's prime-time)? Such things as plot, dialogue, mood, scene, etc... and even the jokes? They've been dragged down to the simplest fare just to squeeze everything in, making such shows useless for any real entertainment.
Sorry, but NBC lives among the crowd of business models heading for extinction, relying on past glories (and past earnings) to carry them along.
/P
http://www.news.com/8301-13579_3-9806737-37.html
Now you tell me who's the ****** is here, Zucker or Jobs?
Speculation:
Got a great new show, not doing so well in the ratings. Let's offer it at a discount this week on iTunes to get some people into it. [b]No[/b] would be the answer they get from iTunes.
the rest of their lineup. That must have been decided while I was
watching CSI ;)
being on iTunes. They are losing the easiest source of revenue
they've made in their history. Its not merely petty cash they're
losing, this is money in the millions, and they're crazy not to be
on iTunes when their shows are practically avaliable for FREE on
TV, and on the WEB. Point is, its easy, easy revenue they're
losing.
In contrast to the iPod, this is hardly a catch 22. Apple doesn't
need NBC to sell iPods. Wherever did the execs from NBC get
that idea, I don't know, go figure.
But sure TV shows like Heroes, The Office, and BattleStar are
really, REALLY great shows (but gimme me a break!), they are
not whats driving the iPod economy. It has always been music!
There are more music artists out there (and growing) than TV
shows (and you can just forget about the songs themselves, not
to mention they're available on CD which is one of the primary
reasons one would use iTunes and not just buying TV shows
from the music store). So point is, the reason why you buy an
iPod is for your music. Maybe a small percentage buys it for TV
shows, but thats the rich GEEK percentage. No offense to those
who buy it for this.
I use my iPod for music cause I can't bare the thought of
watching any show for more than 30mins on that dam tiny
screen no matter how good the resolution. Nor would I want to
whip it out on a bus, train or plane to watch it. Video capability
on the iPod is great, but its really just for GEEKS and not the
average everyday iPod user.
The reason NBC left iTunes is primarily because they practically
own the best shows on TV right now, which accounts for 30% of
iTunes downloads and their not ashamed to flaunt that fact.
Contrary to what this article says about Apple needing NBC is
just absurd! They do serve a purpose but they aren't all that
necessary in the grand Apple scheme of things, especially now
that Apple is looking into movie rentals and downloads which
will again increase iTunes music store traffic, not to mention the
iPhone economy is picking up steam, which NBC could have
easily hitched a ride on both markets.
So at the end of the day Apple is making money! NBC is losing
money.
best shows on TV right now. They had a great show in Studio
60, but they dumped it even though it was generally in the top
20 iTMS downloads list and consistently in the top 10 tivo most
recorded list.
If NBC wanted to right the ship, they would immediately dump
all game show and reality programming and get back to
producing great scripted comedies and dramas... like FX is
doing.
Break the Wedge!
www.breakthewedge.com
TV, just pick the shows I want to record, it records them, and if
desired you can have it automatically export to itunes and go
right into your iPod or iPhone for "on the road" viewing! Sweet!
You can also stream the show right over to the Apple TV in the
family room for the 'couch potato" viewing!
If you don't like the commercials, you can easily edit them right
out!
confuse their customers with pricing structures that make no sense
at all.
Their online venture is already failing. NBC needs Apple more than
the other way around. This piece is ridiculous.
no physical (gas) costs of product, no fancy booklet to own... I
really think cost of buying video file content SHOULD be very
inexpensive. Price should in part reflect these above mentioned
costs yet with downloading video files those costs just do not
exist and so should not be passed onto the consumer. The
cheaper the cost the more people would buy more product and
so profits would be there. I think $15 for a new movie on
iTunes is too much, might as well just buy the DVD for that
price. $2 a TV show is the max I would pay, and I usually buy
seasons as a whole, so about $2 average per show seems to be a
very sweet spot.
Actually I also favor the concept that if I have a DVD I legally
bought, then I should have the right to rip it for my iPod. How
many times do they want me to pay for the same show?
Main reason (imo) they began HD-DVD & BluRay is so people
will buy movies they had bought on DVD again in new format.
What crap.
Reason my brother said Dark Side of The Moon sold so many
copies was everybody bought it on record, then 8-track, then
cassette, and then again on CD. Sure there was improvement of
quality and added portability with the new formats... And that
isn't so bad since all of those formats were PHYSICAL and cost
the companies to create and package and ship. Now with
downloading, the companies just want those old costs to them
to just be pure added over-the-top freaking profit. If CEOs
didn't make millions per year these companies could afford to
reasonable price their goods and increase the happiness of more
people and have happy customers.
Shame companies like NBC would rather get their CEOs outrageous raises rather than have happy customers.
- Retail price
- by kool_skatkat December 4, 2007 10:03 PM PST
- Why should NBC control the retail prices? Apple should be able to set it's own policy.
- Like this Reply to this comment
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Showing 1 of 2 pages (63 Comments)Who know what will happen. Disney almost broke up with Pixar, then the CEO went. Let's wait and see.