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NBC= Nothing But Crap

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NBC - Not Being Cool
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Oh well... I guess NBC doesn't want me buying 30 rock, Heroes, or the Office. Oh well.

here we go again.

NBC will then complain about how bit-torrent is costing them millions....


NBC = No Balls CEOs

Dec 02, 07 - 12:38 am Comment from: Rory

NBC = Nixon's Butt Cheeks. (?) bittorrent, here I come!

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@maniMac

It's not that NBC doesn't want your money, it's more like not enough people are paying to make it worth their effort.

Free shows supported by advertising gives maximum exposure and the opportunity to fudge the viewing numbers. Newspapers do it all the time, they "print up" 20,000 free copies a week and state a circulation of 40,000 based upon a assumption that each paper is read by at least two people.

Of course what is not counted is how many are used to wrap dead fish in chinatown, how many a bum uses as his mattress or how many are used as a cheap drop cloth by a housewife painting her kitchen.

Steve Jobs said something like TV Shows on iTMS was a experiment, because basically it's a lot of hassle and only a minority of computer user types may actually pay and download for commercial free content.

Now if Apple allowed commercials and free TV shows, charged for content delivery and a small profit, they could be rolling in cash. But of course people may dump iTMS because of the commericals and dump iPods afterwards.
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Dec 02, 07 - 12:56 am Comment from: BC Kelly

Again, to repeat David Letterman - concerning the take over of NBC by General Electric years ago - in his 'dumb guy' voice:

Yea, we know all about making washing machines and light bulbs, so we should be able to run a TV network


BC

@Pete

Granted watching free TV on the internet is the best, but what if I...

1. Don't want to be bothered by ads and I'm willing to pay $1.99 to not be bothered

2. I want to watch my media where I want & when I want to.

NBC is just greedy. They want to raise the price or force ad money from somewhere else.

Also, I believe the writer's strike has everything to do with NBC pulling from iTunes. They don't want that fueling the writers cause. I look for NBC shows to reappear after the writers strike is over.

Dec 02, 07 - 01:10 am Comment from: AmericanJoe

@Pete,

I can't help but wonder if it's really about control for NBC. They seem to be taking the antics of the music labels to another level- that of whining about pricing, etc. NBC's beef is that they don't get to have a say- in other words, control.

I think they see that this (TV shows available on the 'net) will have some kind of serious impact in the near future. Their problem is twofold: 1st- they can't see the picture clearly because they don't get tech yet. 2nd- they are still wanting to use the same old methodology. Both are going to get them... shall we say, hurt- bad.

Any additional thoughts?

I'm just glad I recently finished up the last season of Battlestar Galactica... I had to download it from iTunes.

I'm an honest man...

Dec 02, 07 - 01:25 am Comment from: ibookfast

As been said many times before, music and video are different, music you listen to more than twice, video not so much. In other words, I think a subscription model will work for movies and tv shows.

NBC - Not Bringing Content

Dec 02, 07 - 01:31 am Comment from: Randian

A "friend" just got last night's "Friday Night Lights" from the web via bittorrent. All guilt is gone. Conscience is clear. NBC be damned and take the rest of the networks with you!

@BCKelly
Some one else remembers that brilliant comment too

To be a little bit of messerschmidt here, it was when Westinghouse bought CBS 1995 Letterman said something about been there before with NBC and GE and then played the role of the Westinghouse CEO and said;
-We make refridgerators, ovens and stuff like that, sure we know how to run a network too!

And on the subject, who cares with the writers strike going on everything new are drying up fast on or off NBC/iTunes/Bittorrent anyway.

Dec 02, 07 - 02:08 am Comment from: Brau

Not very good news. While I expected some blustering, I didn't think it would come to this as it's not good for anyone. Perhaps the game is not yet up?

Well let's see how their ratings improve in a few months. I thought having shows on iTunes improved their revenues and saved some shows.

Deutsche Grammophone delivers its own music-site and on iTunes they refuse to delivre in the high DRM free quality. Universal ...

@Harry
I have an old LP with Karajan stacked away somewhere that I missed so I actually downloaded that CD in DRM-free high quality mp3 from the DG Shop the other day, worked fine and came with a nice pdf-booklet too.

Still don't get it..... why not allow NBC to charge whatever they want. If no one buys, so be it.

WHY DRIVE THEM TO THE COMPETITION?

@ibookfast
It so happens that certain html tags are <font size="3">allowable</font>.

Further font experiment:
<div style="font-size:18px; font-family:Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight:bold">big font</div>

Dec 02, 07 - 07:33 am Comment from: twilightmoon

@MacGuy: "why not allow NBC to charge whatever they want."

There's a very simple reason for this. As someone stated on here before, variable pricing gives the impression that some content is worth more than other content. Apple wants all the content it sells to be the same price so some shows aren't seen as more valuable or better based on price.

When you go to a movie theatre, they don't discount some crappy movies and charge more for popular ones. They are all the same price, same thing goes here.

As far as NBC having the "right" to charge what they want, yes they certainly do, but not on iTS. The unfortunate thing for them is they won't sell any content elsewhere.

Dec 02, 07 - 08:54 am Comment from: Tommy Boy

Last week I wanted to watch Battlestar Galactica: Razor which I had missed on SciFi. Knowing I had downloaded previous episodes from iTunes I went there looking for the movie.

It's not there. What the...Oh wait SciFi is owned by Universal.

Hello BitTorrent!

From what i understand about the music industry, the artists dont make much, if anything off there CD sales. They make all there money going on tours.

If this is the case, then the only people worried about the sales of CD's is the producers.
Perhaps they need to re think the model.

Free tv shows via the internet supported by advertising that is the way to go.

These guys don't get it. People, who own video-capable iPod or an iPhone, may want to watch TV Shows while sitting in bus or train.

If they don't offer their content in downloadable, then there are other ways of getting that stuff in to your iPod and some of them don't cost 1.99$ per episode.

MW: decision. It's their decision.

Little addition to the offering content in downloadable formats.

TV studios are just as slow in getting into the downloads as record companies. Only difference is that, making a TV show takes always takes so much more personnel than making a record. One man can make a complete album, while making a TV show one man wont get that far, so they don't have worry about losing artists.

But I honestly think that those TV studios, that reinvent their business model now and invest in to downloadable formats, are going to be major players in half a decade from now.

Kids who were born after '97 in industrial western countries, they don't know the world without internet. Some of them can't even imagine it. And actually, you don't have to be that young.

Dec 02, 07 - 10:37 am Comment from: silverhawk

I thought Apple removed NBC shows from iTunes before the fall season started.

Scoop!

Paul McCartney talks Steves Jobs, iTunes etc.

Google cache

http://209.85.173.104/search?q=cache:0xwrMZ6cfzgJ:www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/music/chi-1202_mccartneydec02,1,5265007.story+mccartney+:+Artists+taking+back+control+of+music+business&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1

Dec 02, 07 - 10:44 am Comment from: shen

what exactly was NBC's cost on this? aside from the writers (who they weren't paying for internet stuff) what is the cost to take a show you are making anyway and put it on iTunes?

isn't this basically free money they are giving away?

nothing about TV or the recording industry makes sense to me. this is a lot like how 6 idiots get millions a show for weekly crap, but the writers get minimum wage for putting words in their mouths.

if these companies had any honor at all their CEO's would be taking the first pay cut when things go south rather than jumping out the window with a 40 million dollar chute......

what does the head of this "company" make a year? yeah, i thought so.....

Pete: Thanks for the link to the Chicago Tribune story. It makes for some fascinating reading -- especially the relationship between McCartney and Jobs. Even if you don't like McCartney at least he gets it when it comes to modern music distribution. And he's 65 years old!

NBC = Now Bittorrent Comes
Let's those greedy dumbass at Universial know they're fscking things up by messing with  …
hahaha

:-(

Stargate Atlantis . . . is gone.

Dec 02, 07 - 11:30 am Comment from: Brilliant Sandwich

Download it all for free and send a message to NBC. Maybe then they will get someone on their decision making committee who understands tech.

Why do NBC, Universal, Warner Bros. Music, etc. not like iTunes? It's not just the fixed pricing, although that has a small kernel of truth.

The biggest fear is that sites like iTunes will make the big distribution companies irrelevant, particularly in music. If an artist could go to a studio, cut an album, and have it posted to iTunes without involving the music label, why wouldn't they? Then they get the money from the music sales as well as the concert sales.

This will be much more difficult to do with TV shows due to production costs being significantly higher than for music and a much larger group of people being needed to make a TV show.

Movies are the interesting point. Recall that Pixar had to cut a sweetheart deal with Disney when it started just to get Toy Story and other movies in the theaters. Once Pixar had made several smash hits in a row, Disney almost lost the gig due to Michael Eisner's stupid attitude.

Now imagine an upstart Pixar or other movie production company bypassing the major distributors and selling its first movie or several on iTunes. As popularity builds, the major distributors will have to cut a good deal for the company or the theater industry may bypass the major distributors and screen the film anyway.

iTunes has the possibility of blowing up the entertainment distribution channels as we know them, which scares the hell out of those companies. They're circling the wagons and trying to deny iTunes content, but it won't work. People have had a taste, and as technology improves, they will only want more and more content producers will find ways to get their product on iTunes.

Dec 02, 07 - 12:42 pm Comment from: jjjj

Got my Hulu account now. Man, is it ever boring. Non-HD shows, so everything is grainy. Oh, yeah, and it creashed my browser. NBCU is really cheap and lame.

Did you notice how 3 of the NBC shows this year, Journeyman, Bionic Woman and Chuck are the exact same show/premise? "individual has extreme powers- only a trusted few know the truth" - the mix being that Chuck is comdrama, Journeyman more serious and Bionic Woman more violent...

ABC.com is more fun to watch, Hi-Def shows, quick commercials. The Jobs effect is in full force.

Dec 02, 07 - 01:10 pm Comment from: coolfactor

Oh well, we never had them in Canada anyway.

Dragging.. feet....

Dec 02, 07 - 01:18 pm Comment from: LorD1776

I didn't know DG had a music site . Gonna have to check it out. I still have a bunch of Karajan/Berlin performances on LaserDisc that are great. I'd like to have DVD versions without ripping and burning.

Dec 02, 07 - 01:41 pm Comment from: James

I liked the Scifi Channels shows too, in fact, they were some of the only ones offered that I personally was interested in. The whole point WAS to be able to watch them without advertising for me. I guess it's back to bit torrent for me as well . . . I see that there are already rips of the special Battlestar Galactica DVD up. Dumb NBC. That could have been dollars in your pocket.

Dec 02, 07 - 02:48 pm Comment from: ericdano

Oh well, there is bittorrent. The appeal with iTunes was that you could get the show, with no commercials, for a good price. Now, you'll have to go to their site and watch episodes with crappy ads.

From NBC's point of view, they make more money with Ads than they do actually selling the show for what it is worth ($1.99 an episode). It's all about money. Not making good shows. This season of Hereos and the Office prove that.

Dec 02, 07 - 03:37 pm Comment from: Bitjockey

Too bad, when this was first announced I started buying episodes of 'Chuck' hoping, like all good businesses, NBC would make decisions with their pocketbook. Guess my $15 bucks didn't sway them

No surprise, but from a big picture standpoint few will be able afford to pay $2 for every TV show they watch. If Internet distribution is going to succeed or supplant the existing broadcast model they will have to offer free viewing (with commercials of course).

The big advantage and attraction of the Internet model is that you can watch on demand. For avid show buffs the internet model could also be used to provide additional content like outtakes, cast interviews, alternate endings, interactive scenarios, etc..

AC:

Not yet, it's not. I'm downloading the latest episode of Stargate Atlantis right now in iTunes.

Dec 02, 07 - 05:35 pm Comment from: TowerTone

Damn! Now where am I supposed to go to not buy Keith Olbermann's show?

What? It wasn't on iTunes anyhow?

Dec 02, 07 - 05:40 pm Comment from: Ferf Muckmeyer

This stinks of sour grapes. Zucker is about the biggest shithead in the entertainment industry right now and he's trying to make a name for himself in the worst way possible. He clearly does not understand the importance of this technology and just wants to profit from it even more.

NBC has been battered in the ratings game so badly this year that at times Telemundo has eclipsed NBC (I believe they are both owned by NBC Universal). What does that say about Zucker and his organization? And aside from Battlestar Galactica and the Stargate saga, what else does the Sci-fi channel have to offer? Trash like Flash Gordon? (@TommyBoy - Razor on DVD this Tuesday! Can't wait.).

CBS and Disney are embracing the model. Fox is supporting it. But NBC and Warner are not doing well, and they are looking for scapegoats. Don't blame Apple, you foolish studio heads. Look at your programming and marketing departments and maybe you'll get a better view of what's really going on.

Apple officially dispatches NBC from iTunes Store

And there was much rejoicing.

Sorry, NBC. You wanna give Steve lousy content AND a one-sided contract? Fuhgeddaboutit!!

Maybe you can cut a deal with YouTube...

Dec 02, 07 - 07:15 pm Comment from: toby

If NBC doesn't want my money...thst's fine by me.


NBC needs to know that the day where they dictate to me (the customer) on how and when I view my content are over.


New episodes of "Heroes" will be on my iPod. If NBC doesn't want to get paid for it...that's their problem.

I've subscribed to several TV shows on iTunes in the past ... but now the networks are releasing them, themselves, for free on their own websites (for example you can watch Lost and Heroes this way). The only problem is that the bandwidth requirement is so high, I cannot watch them even with my broadband connection. So I have to resort to other means....

what else does the Sci-fi channel have to offer?

Ok so this is BBC. Still good stuff.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qRoGMiYoOgI

"As been said many times before, music and video are different, music you listen to more than twice, video not so much. In other words, I think a subscription model will work for movies and tv shows."

It doesn't make any difference how many times something has been said, saying it doesn't make it so.

Dec 03, 07 - 12:46 am Comment from: Ferf Muckmeyer

@davros,

My sincerest apologies. We must not forget the Doctor. Wish we weren't a year behind the BBC but that's life on both sides of the pond.

Can't wait to see the Ood again! he he he

fm

oh... nbc = 4th in ratings world. obviously, nbc = nothing but crap. who cares about these nbc mac racist fools? not me

Hey, NBC's move wouldn't have anything to do with MS part of it MSNBC?)
Would it?