NBC Direct – Free TV shows

Here’s a random fact for you, NBC is a division of General Electrics, who knew? Okay, I’m sure a lot of you, but I just found this out 37 seconds ago.

You read the news, right? You know all about the NBC vs. Apple spat that ended in NBC planning to offer their videos through Amazon.com (ick). Well, it seems in a new development NBC will be launching its own free download service, called NBC Direct, for viewers to download their shows for free. The downloads will feature a TV like experience, complete with commercials that cannot be skipped.

The service, which is set to go public in November will allow users to subscribe to NBC programs and have them delivered to their computers automatically after the program airs, however the file will expire one week after the show first airs. To add further insult to injury, NBC Direct will only be available to Windows users. Take that Apple!

Now correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t this stem from NBC waiting to charge users more per download? And now they’ll be offering them for free? Umm, okay? I realize they will probably make a bit of money off the built in commercials, but can that really compare to the money they made through their offerings on iTunes?

Comments

3 responses to “NBC Direct – Free TV shows”

  1. Dave Sack Avatar

    If you had watched a whole season of 30 Rock like I did, you’d know that GE owned NBC… maybe I’ll review THAT when I’m looking for a post!

  2. Fred Smith Avatar

    That story reminds me: Did you see that the New York Times is doing away with the members only content on their website? They were raking in 10 million off of memberships every year, and yet advertising revenues are going to make them even more money.

  3. Wahoo Avatar

    Thank you for sharing!

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