NBC strongly opposed to Apple's 99 cent iTunes rental model
NBC Universal is unlikely join a pair of its peers in serving up a la carte TV show rentals to Apple TV users for 99 cents for pop through Apple's iTunes Store later this year, according to comments from the company's top executive.
"We do not think 99 cents is the right price point for our content," NBC Universal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker said on Wednesday at Goldman Sachs investor conference. "We thought it would devalue our content."
NBC currently offers iTunes customers the option of purchasing its shows outright for $1.99. But like the vast majority of networks that also distribute their content through the digital download service for the same price, it has balked at Apple's new 99 cent model announced earlier this month alongside the revamped Apple TV set-top box.
Thus far, only Walt Disney's ABC and News Corp's Fox have agreed to the price cut, though News Corp President Chase Carey similarly told investors at the same conference Wednesday that its participation in the matter is only a "short-term test."
For NBC and Zucker, this isn't the first time they've entered into a stalemate with Apple over digital download pricing on the iTunes Store. After accounting for roughly 40% of video downloads through the service in 2007, the network abruptly pulled its video library from iTunes after Apple wouldn't agree to a reported 100% increase in the wholesale price of each show.
During an October 2007 breakfast hosted by Syracuse’s Newhouse School of Communications, Zucker even went as far as to single out Apple for 'destroying' music pricing and urged his colleagues to take a stand against the company's iTunes Store, alleging that the service was undermining the ability of traditional media companies to set profitable rates for their content online.
NBC eventually caved to the popularity of the iTunes Store, signing back on with the service to sell its standard definition content for $1.99 an episode and HD content for $2.99 an episode less than a year later.
"We do not think 99 cents is the right price point for our content," NBC Universal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker said on Wednesday at Goldman Sachs investor conference. "We thought it would devalue our content."
NBC currently offers iTunes customers the option of purchasing its shows outright for $1.99. But like the vast majority of networks that also distribute their content through the digital download service for the same price, it has balked at Apple's new 99 cent model announced earlier this month alongside the revamped Apple TV set-top box.
Thus far, only Walt Disney's ABC and News Corp's Fox have agreed to the price cut, though News Corp President Chase Carey similarly told investors at the same conference Wednesday that its participation in the matter is only a "short-term test."
For NBC and Zucker, this isn't the first time they've entered into a stalemate with Apple over digital download pricing on the iTunes Store. After accounting for roughly 40% of video downloads through the service in 2007, the network abruptly pulled its video library from iTunes after Apple wouldn't agree to a reported 100% increase in the wholesale price of each show.
During an October 2007 breakfast hosted by Syracuse’s Newhouse School of Communications, Zucker even went as far as to single out Apple for 'destroying' music pricing and urged his colleagues to take a stand against the company's iTunes Store, alleging that the service was undermining the ability of traditional media companies to set profitable rates for their content online.
NBC eventually caved to the popularity of the iTunes Store, signing back on with the service to sell its standard definition content for $1.99 an episode and HD content for $2.99 an episode less than a year later.
Comments
Jeff Zucker is a schmuck who should have been axed a long time ago.
If they can't understand the limitations of a lot of consumers to add another $100 a month for television shows then there are other channels.
As long as NBC can keep their commercials in the shows to be rented why do they need 99¢ every time we want to watch something via AppleTV?
It will only get worse if the Comcast/NBC merger happens. Really bad for consumers.
No kidding. This is one I would hope will get vetoed. Being in the position to not only collect from advertising dollars but also charge for delivery really sucks. I am not sure what grounds the FTC can stop it but hopefully someone will keep that zucker out of such a position of power.
But I want to know what The Event is.....
... NBC agreeing to rent their TV shows!!!
But I want to know what The Event is.....
***WARNING SPOILER ALERT***
Its CRAP!
NBC is just missing out on free money. Idiots. I'd consider renting a show for a quarter and that still seems high for something I can record free with a DVR. Advertisements can be fast forwarded and deleted if the show is kept on a computer.
So, if a person rents a TV show twice then shouldn't they be happy. Especially in a home where not everyone can watch the same day. One would believe the rental model would be more attractive as it is recurring revenue. I might actually want to watch a show again some time in the future - I know that sounds crazy but it happens.
How is Apple TV different from TiVo? TiVo can record shows automatically and people don't need to rent the shows. I'd rather have a DVR than Apple TV regarding TV shows.
NBC is just missing out on free money. Idiots. I'd consider renting a show for a quarter and that still seems high for something I can record free with a DVR. Advertisements can be fast forwarded and deleted if the show is kept on a computer.
Yes, but you have to pay for all the shows before Tivo can record any shows.
Tivo doesn't record out of thin air(unless you are recording only free over the air tv).
Most people pay a lot of money to a cable company for the privilege of DVRing their favorite shows.
I don't have cable TV and there is no free over the air tv in my area so a DVR is no good for me.
AppleTV sounds great.
Watched a few minutes of Fox's highly touted Glee last night. Utter, autotuned crap.
I can't imagine they do, but I don't really know. How much does an ad cost on a hit show? How many people are watching it?
If they don't make more than $1/view , then I don't know why they wouldn't take the money.
And I don't agree that Netflix is the only value that AppleTV offers. It is a great feature, don't get me wrong and I don't think I would have ordered one without it. I can't really see myself renting TV shows, but I do think I will end up renting movies.
I subscribe to Netflix, but don't always have a DVD at home when I decide to watch a movie. If it isn't available to stream from Netflix, I could easily see myself renting one from Apple.
We occasionally ran to our local video rental place when we wanted to watch something that had just come out and didn't want to wait for it to ship from Netflix. That was until the last rental place in our town closed. We will do the same thing with AppleTV and won't have to drive twice.
I would love to be able to stream ESPN3 to it. Anybody know if that is going to be possible?
"We do not think 99 cents is the right price point for our content," NBC Universal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker said on Wednesday at Goldman Sachs investor conference. "We thought it would devalue our content."
Yeah cause it has such quality content as it is Jeff! /sarcasm
He can't get deals like he did with music. If he did, Steve would probably be more on board with this segment.
This is found money for the networks, and they're saying 'no thanks'. They're hidebound, dull, and plodding - no surprise there...
I had to look up what hidebound means, but yeah - ditto.
A season of shows can be PURCHASED for a comparable rate so what's the problem? Zuck doesn't get it. How does he explain to shareholders that he's leaving this money on the table? Just like he did during his itunes walkout.