MacDailyNews - Where Mac news comes first

Jan 21, 08 - 09:43 am Comment from: Macromancer

It seems that they are at least saying the right things publicly. I think they are seeing the train leaving the station and don't want to get left behind.

I could care less about NBC shows but all of their other Universal properties have a greater interest to me.

Jan 21, 08 - 09:48 am Comment from: Bluefin

I wonder what would happen:

GE is the parent Co. NBC.
GE is currently priced at 34. + change a share.
If we all bought one share, and then started writing to GE:
We want shows on iTunes. We are tired of same old same old...

I wonder what would happen...

Jan 21, 08 - 09:54 am Comment from: Predrag

It was inevitable. It was just the matter of time. And the WGA strike just made it hurt even more.

And of course, Jobs will be welcoming them back, standing firmly the high ground that he has.

AppleTV will be the smash hit that it was originally scheduled to be, without doubt.

Steve and Zucker have probably learnt to make concessions... for Apple to win, NBC doesn't have to lose and vice versa.

Jan 21, 08 - 10:01 am Comment from: Ampar

There's a Zucker boring every minute.

Everyone knew the outcome would be like this. Now that Apple has all the major Hollywood studios and all the major television networks signed on to the iTunes Store, NBC didn't want to be the only one left out in the industry. Before long they'll be pleading with Steve Jobs to get their network signed back on to iTunes.

Jan 21, 08 - 10:03 am Comment from: Ampar

Bluefin, would you loan $34.31 to me? (j/k)

NBC: Leftist media outlet with bold anti-American agenda - especially nutroots on MSNBC. Their channels, national and local, have been locked out on my TVs.

Apple: Liberal company whose Liberal CEO invites Marxist piano man to perform at year's premier event.

Outcome: little difference - I'm very close to locking Apple products out of my life.

Jan 21, 08 - 10:07 am Comment from: Macromancer

"NBC: Leftist media outlet with bold anti-American agenda"

If that's easier to wrap your pea brain around then go ahead. Being dumb takes less energy than actually thinking.

From another forum I found: "Im sure it had nothing to do with Andrea Jung joining the Apple Board of Directors. She also sits on GE's board which owns 80% of NBC Universal."

Looks like Apple was smart to get the Avon lady on board!

Jan 21, 08 - 10:11 am Comment from: Demon

News Flash NBC to rejoin iTunes, and Hulu closes up shop as a huge failure.

Jan 21, 08 - 10:18 am Comment from: KingMel

Let me be clear - I admire Steve Jobs. I would even go so far as to say that I 'like' him based solely on his keynotes and interviews. He seems to truly care about the 'right' things, and that is a big reason why Apple is headed in the right direction. Admittedly, I have not met Steve in person or had a chance to engage him in conversation, so that is a weak basis for making a personal judgment.

But Steve is just one person and Apple is, in the end, a corporate entity for whom profit for the shareholder and money/power for the board of directors is the rule. Power can corrupt and corporations can go astray despite the best intentions of management. So while in its current position of electronic media dominance Apple is pushing consumer-friendly policies, such as DRM-free music, I don't think that it is in everyone's best interests for Apple to develop/maintain a stranglehold on internet music or video distribution. Healthy competition is a good thing.

Let Apple lead the way. Let others join the trek.

@Birds of a Feather

Good riddance, who needs you.

Nutjob.

Jan 21, 08 - 10:20 am Comment from: Sixvodkas

xlt3zz beat me to it!

What happened was Macworld and the announcement that EVERY FRIGGIN' MEDIA OUTLET ON THE PLANET practically signed up on iTunes.
Talk about egg on your face?
If I were a GE shareholder, I'd be demanding the resignation of the buffoon responsible for NBC's iTunes debacle.

The sooner people like Birds of a Feather lock themselves out of the Real World, the better.

Jan 21, 08 - 10:24 am Comment from: switcher

Was probably feeling the heat from NBC's shareholders. Zucker's gonna have his tail between his legs when he goes back to Steve. Funny!

Jan 21, 08 - 10:25 am Comment from: Sixvodkas

KingMel,

Apple hasn't developed, nor maintained, a "stranglehold" on anything.
What we are witnessing is a minor revolution, of sorts, in which the CONSUMERS are actively CHOOSING Apple and iTunes OVER all other competitors.
We HAVE healthy competition, and for a change, it's the CONSUMERS who are dictating who wins or loses.
That's a tough thought for some to swallow, but it's what's happening.

Am I the only freedom-loving, Constitution-preserving Conservative in the Apple universe or is it just the skulls-full-of-mush crowd that populates this forum?

Steve Jobs has added to the definition of Capitalism while seizing upon its greatest benefits, yet you guys continue to defend big government and its wrong headed supporters as some kind of good thing when it is, in fact, the thing we should fear the most.

Do you think, even for a minute, that more government control and regulation will lead to the development of more of the gadgets you love so much? Do you think the ring master of marketing will continue to perform in a country with the kind of government being pushed by NBC and other Liberal media?

Enough with the Fascist propaganda.

Jan 21, 08 - 10:43 am Comment from: HMCIV

I just read about this on Slashdot. Will someone PLEASE get them a spell checker???

Jan 21, 08 - 10:54 am Comment from: LinuxGuyAndMacProdigalSon

To Birds of a Feather, you are not the only conservative on this board -- not by a long shot. SJ has lefty rebel roots, but like many of this sort, they soon learn that their crypto Marxist puerile early stance leads only to disaster. They can't make the final break and just flush their so called "progressive" baggage behind in their private life. But Jobs acts like an outstanding free enterpriser.

If you choose to cut your nose to spite your face and not just ignore SJ's childish, but harmless, genuflections to his old radical buddies, then go ahead and suffer the consequences. I, however choose to do the capitalist thing and make a lot of $$$ betting on the world's greatest capitalist, Steve Jobs.

Jan 21, 08 - 11:01 am Comment from: TowerTone

I imagine Immelt is tired of his stock sliding and pulled the reins in on Zucker.

BOAF-
check back around October. You won't be able to get a word in edgewise around here. I'm saving my breath and enjoying the Mac talk. For now.

Jan 21, 08 - 11:03 am Comment from: TowerTone

Ge, I thought I made a post.

Hello?

Jan 21, 08 - 11:07 am Comment from: Cubert

I feel kinda funny.....think that acid hasn't worn off yet.

Jan 21, 08 - 11:09 am Comment from: TowerTone

OK. As Officer Barbardy would say..."Found it!"

Jan 21, 08 - 11:15 am Comment from: Ferf Muckmeyer

Zucker is and always has been an asshole. His network is tanking and so is the stock, so no wonder.

A monkey could have predicted that Zucker would come crawling back.

fm

Jan 21, 08 - 11:18 am Comment from: Mr. Reeee

Librul...
BirdsofaFeather is already WAAAAY out of the Real World. Doubtless, orbiting one asteroid or another...

Jan 21, 08 - 11:20 am Comment from: Zune Tang®

"We want to be in business with Apple"?

This guy can't be serious. How does joining with the 2.5% market share losers grow your business? They don't even have a 2 button mouse. Here is an instance where the Microsoft + Zune + NBC ecosystem can really thrive. You get the coveted hip brand in Microsoft, the fantastic Zune portable media player, and NBC's awesome content. In fact, Microsoft's dominant market position and technology developments have them years ahead of the competition. Being in business with Apple would just be a step backward.

Your potential. Our passion.™

I wonder if perhaps the new role assumed by Apple TV as a prospective centerpiece of the digital living room had something to do with it. I mean, if so much will be routed through the "Apple network", it would be the height of foolishness to let greed and ego on NBC's part to hold themselves out of the action.

Steve Jobs is a true Capitalist: he recognizes that the way to build a brand is through quality, not slogans. Henry Ford saw that if he was going to sell his cars, his workers needed to be able to afford them.

On the other hand, most of the people calling themselves conservatives or capitalists today are really just con men, looking to make money by selling America's wealth to the lowest bidder around the world.

We all complain about dealing with call centers in India, yet the corporations setting them up there continue to get away with telling us our "call is very important" to them, via a recording, of course. That's not free market capitalism, and if you want to conserve or preserve that, then please call me a radical progressive!

Jan 21, 08 - 11:29 am Comment from: Drew_Ill

@ Birds of a Feather -

Yes, locking oppsing views out of your TV etc. is the American, Patriotic thing to do.

I can picture him in his living room now, with an Amercian Flag blindfold (and thong), fingers planted firmly in his ears, singing Hulk Hogan's "Real American" theme song at the top of his lungs over and over and over again...

"I am a real American, Fight for the rights of every man,
I am a real American, fight for what's right, fight for your life!"

Zune Tang, you do me proud!

Still in the news:
http://www.welovetheiraqiinformationminister.com/

Jan 21, 08 - 11:31 am Comment from: Ampar

"You get the coveted hip brand in Microsoft . . ."

<spit take>

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's ass factory.

Jan 21, 08 - 11:32 am Comment from: TowerTone

"On the other hand, most of the people calling themselves conservatives or capitalists today are really just con men, looking to make money by selling America's wealth to the lowest bidder around the world. "

You mean like the factories in China that build Macs?

Jan 21, 08 - 11:41 am Comment from: Scot Murphy

I think Birds of a Feather and ZuneTang are cut from the same cloth. May even be the same troll--er, person.

The original Macs were built in California, and it was the rest of the industry's race to the bottom that forced Apple to cease US production.

Big business. Who's to say that Universal's position didn't change pricing strategy on movie downloads. As long as a solution can be reached that benefits studios=Apple=customers, this is all just business and a lot of posturing.

In some ways, the writer's strike increases the studio's reliance on Apple. In turn, Apple will make the studios money. And the result will be happy consumers who get what they want at competitive and acceptable prices.

Of Course all computers are built in China. Where else could they be built?

ZT: "You get the coveted hip brand in Microsoft.."

That was so funny, it almost made me LOL.

Jan 21, 08 - 01:22 pm Comment from: Petey

Steve Jobs tell Zucker and NBC to fuck off!

Apple don't need those idiots on board on iTunes.

Looks like Steve Jobs was right and you were wrong Zucker!

Now go and curl up in a corner and die - no one needs your network's amateurish content anyway.

Jan 21, 08 - 01:27 pm Comment from: Cubert

Even crazier now.

Jan 21, 08 - 01:42 pm Comment from: The Other Steve

So, the new way new shows will be promoted is to make them avalible on iTunes and see if the public is interested?

Cool!

Jan 21, 08 - 08:30 pm Comment from: LorD1776

I don't care about the previous posturing of Zucker and Jobs.
It's better to have allies than enemies, even if it is only for profit motives.

@Ferf Muckmeyer
Looking at NBC Universal and J Zucker dispassionately.
"NBC Universal reported a 10 per cent increase in operating profit for the fourth quarter, its fifth consecutive quarter of growth and its first double-digit gain in nearly three years.
For 2007, the General Electric-owned media company’s film, cable television and theme park units all turned in record performances." - as reported by The Financial Times.

To say that NBC Universal is tanking is a ridiculous point of view, most peeps posting on MDN espouse a capitalist outlook yet can not embrace capitalism for any company that they "perceive" as detrimental to Apple. While I well understand the passion, I sense that the logic is missing. The market will dictate events.

Do not for one moment presume that SJ considers that Zucker is a sucker, SJ understands the game that is afoot and would respect Zucker for his tenacity and business tactics. Pissed off at Zucker yes, but still understanding and unprejudiced. Brinkmanship!

The MacDailyNews Take: "... This may, however, be a sign that Zucker and NBC are beginning to crawl back to Steve Jobs and Apple's market-dominating iTunes Store" - Is pernicious and misses the point - that NBC Universal and the other studios were able to determine a variable price structure for FILM downloads,which is what they are trying to achieve for television content on iTunes.

Sometimes I feel that MDN need to pull their head out of the sand and respect other business's fundamental right to stand tough, to fight for a slice of profits and uphold their requirements to institutional investors.

"NBC and other companies have already used the strike to terminate millions of dollars of long-term production contracts. Mr Zucker is planning to go further by cutting enduring features of the television business, including the pilot season, in which networks develop programmes, and the splashy 'upfront' presentations in which they tout them to advertisers. 'Things like that are all vestiges of an era that's gone by and won't return,' Mr Zucker told the Financial Times."

This all sounds like the ravings of another bean-counter, cum CEO, who hasn't really learned anything from the past.

There's a real sensation of deja-vu to this because this sounds very similar to the "reasoning" of everyone touting the inevitable, it's-gonna-happen-any-day-now, success of music subscriptions.

Cutting expenses is never a good business method for trying to make a profit. It's shortsighted and NBC is going to see a continuing decline in viewership.

Why is the text so small?