What Did Apple’s Five Fingers Say to NBC’s Face? SLAP!
11:04 am, August 31st, 2007, Pete Mortensen
Apple just slapped NBC down hard. Responding to reports NBC was pulling out of the iTunes Store, Apple announced that it was prematurely canceling their partnership — Because NBC wanted $5 per episode of its shows!
Apple® today announced that it will not be selling NBC television shows for the upcoming television season on its online iTunes® Store (www.itunes.com). The move follows NBC’s decision to not renew its agreement with iTunes after Apple declined to pay more than double the wholesale price for each NBC TV episode, which would have resulted in the retail price to consumers increasing to $4.99 per episode from the current $1.99. ABC, CBS, FOX and The CW, along with more than 50 cable networks, are signed up to sell TV shows from their upcoming season on iTunes at $1.99 per episode.
Incredible. NBC has benefited from iTunes more than anyone else, and they’re throwing out crazy price increases. I mean, that would have made Friday Night Lights Season 1 cost $110! NBC is selling the DVD for less than $20 brand-new with more special features! If this is any indication of Hulu’s pricing scheme, it’s screwed out of the gate.
Via Daring Fireball.
Rick James pic from CBC.
Posted by Pete Mortensen in Apple, iTunes | Comment on this article
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I forsee this conversation happening at NBC this very moment…
Exec 1 “You told Apple how much?!”
Exec 2 “You told me to tell them $4.99!”
Exec 1 “I have no memory of such conversation.”
Exec 2 “Wha..?”
Exec 3 “Who told Apple $4.99?!”
Exec 1 “HE did!”
Exec 2 “Wha..?”
Exec 3 “You’re fired! Oh, and we’re pressing charges against you for breach of fiduciary duties.”
Jay, on August 31st, 2007 at 11:42 am
I love it when greed bites people on the ass before they even have a chance to turn around! Cool products aside, this is why I love Jobs/Apple. Slap! Indeed.
On a side note… that’s Dave Chappelle AS Rick James, bitch.
Nick, on August 31st, 2007 at 1:11 pm
[...] What Did Apple’s Five Fingers Say to NBC’s Face? SLAP! [...]
NBC tries to screw you, Apple says no at uninteresting :: rich, on August 31st, 2007 at 1:37 pm
Yeah, Apple TV will become a DVR and it won’t matter. Apple’s strong-arming all of the channels to get them to drop out of iTunes so that it can take content on for itself. iTunes loses money, but Apple TV gains money for Apple. They asked for involvement from channels simply to make it seem like they weren’t going to try to take over media consumption. Guess what? They don’t care about the channels. Apple TV will be a DVR within a year and people will buy that and not care about iTunes for anything other than file management.
will, on August 31st, 2007 at 3:16 pm
One never ceases to be amazed at the cluelessness of the content providers. The best they can come up with is to sue their customers and make it as hard as possible to get their content electronically. If there’s any truth to the idea that the marketplace will sort itself out, I hope a shakeup is coming in the next few years.
coljac, on August 31st, 2007 at 5:57 pm
[...] Reading What Did Apple’s Five Fingers Say to NBC’s Face? SLAP! (Cult of Mac) NBC wants more DRM, higher prices from iTunes: report (Ars Technica) Daring Fireball [...]
PhillRyu.com - Welcome to Zuckerland, on September 1st, 2007 at 4:35 am
Most reports on the net and in the major media outlets start out by saying NBC pulling their programs out of iTunes and conclude with Apple’s reasons why. Comments invariably follow the theme of “OMG! Is NBC nuts?”.
While it is possible that this press release volley between NBC and Apple is but a negotiating tactic, it doesn’t make any difference if the facts as stated by either party have any basis in reality or not — Apple clearly won this round.
NewsReader, on September 1st, 2007 at 1:51 pm
Serves them right for getting greedy, I would think they’re going to regret that move pretty fast when their revenue drops noticeably.
Ali, on September 2nd, 2007 at 1:22 am
[...] What Did Apple’s Five Fingers Say to NBC’s Face? SLAP! (Cult of Mac) [...]
NBC近期å‘表的从iTunes在线音ä¹Â商店撤出的官方çâ, on September 2nd, 2007 at 5:13 am
The only thing NBC has worth watching is Heroes and My Name Is Earl. I buy the DVD sets far cheaper. Broadcast networks are dinosaurs anyway, and iTunes and Apple TV are the asteroid.
JohnT, on September 2nd, 2007 at 1:22 pm
Yes, bring on the DVR TV, I can just hear Steve’s announcement “Tivo for the rest of us”
d0b3rmann, on September 3rd, 2007 at 6:13 pm
nbc is a bum lets make fun of them
beavis is a bum, on September 4th, 2007 at 9:36 am
[...] Apple to hand over billions in iPod sales for reasons only Jeff Zucker can fathom. In the fall-out, NBC pulled its content from iTunes, promising to roll out their own downloadable video application, offering full episodes [...]
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