It's no secret that all TV studios hate writers, puppies and you, so it's really no surprise that
NBC dropped iTunes distribution a couple months back -- it's all part of the master plan. Luckily, the new
NBC Direct service, which is now in beta, is a tiny breath of fresh air. But by tiny, we mean minuscule. The service allows for free downloads of NBC shows up to seven days after they air, but it's Windows and IE only -- which does nothing to help Mac users left stranded by Amazon Unbox. The episodes also delete automatically after 48 hours, and the player installation requires all sorts of hoop jumping and Windows Media ickyness. There's also no mobile device integration or really much of any reason at all to choose the downloaded versions over online versions unless your internet connection is shaky or you just want to screw over the writers a bit more effectively. Hopefully promised iTunes-competitive features like pay-to-download (the current version includes unskippable ads) won't be long in coming.
[Via
Mashable]
posted November 10th 2007 7:25PM
You can watch shows like "The Office!"
are you serious. all you people saying its a good idea *cough*mark*cough* and saying its better than getting tied to itunes, you've got to be joking. for 1 itunes is so much better than this crap software, 2 i dont live in the states so before i could buy the episode a day after it came out, i now have to either wait for it to come out on dvd, which im sorry NBC, but im not going to wait a year for it to come out while everyone else is busy enjoing the NEXT season, or download it illegally. NBC's probably losing more money now but they're too stubborn to go crying back to apple, who i believe helped save their now most popular show 'The Office'. if you dont believe me look it up, and anyways almost everyone owns an ipod, so odds are you already are locked into the apple ecosystem, so that really doesnt matter. thanks NBC, for ruining the convenience of itunes for all of us.
Hey all the snarky comments are fine in the correct forum, like a apple biased site like Engadget for example, but could you guys quit being douch bags and quit clogging up the NBC tech support forums??? I mean basically that is exactly the type the childish behavior that make me hate you guys, and really anybody who gets their self identity from operating system choices.
Thanks! Your help is appreciated.
Netflix do this also no one complained
Currently, my cable is included in my rent so I am stuck with cable for the time being. However, after I move out of here next year and buy a house, I'm ditching cable for good. I'll be buying a HD antenna from Radioshack for about $100. That way I can watch stuff like Heroes and Friday Night Lights without paying those greedy bastards a dime. I would've been the first in line to be able to download shows like Law & Order for my Apple TV, but now that NBC has pulled them I'm out of luck. I will never, repeat NEVER, use this crappy service (partly by choice, but mainly because I'm a mac user).
Basic cable and a DVD recorder. What the hell was so hard about that? Oh, but I'd rather download a 320X200 (maybe) overly compressed DRM'd file with audio out of sync and the same commercial over and over.
Better yet, why don't we all just go to Best Buy and purchase the DVD season for another $30 and let it sit on the shelf after 1 viewing?
When did we all get "sucker" tattooed on our foreheads?
Amen to that sir. Amen to that.
Weather its Apple or NBC or CBS its the principle of the matter. Putting material up for free with strings attached is not free. The strings are the 48 hr time-out media player hoops, and probably spying on everything you run through the media player, and thats not even counting the comericals you can't skip. I don't watch NBC for for me its mostly matter of principle. At least with Apple when you bought it it, it was yours. Free with Strings is not Free....
What a joke? So you want them to hand their content to you on platter? Quit whining. Everything (esp. in capitalism) comes with strings and you have other options as many has posted.
There is no free lunch.
stupid iSheep
I don't watch NBC or any of the "BIG Networks" in the first place, So I'm not a "Stupid Sheep" I am only pointing out that NBC's idea of Free isn't free, I have a set-top DVD recorder, If I want something, I recored it either directly to the recorder, or PVR it and then go back and record it editing ads out, and presto, no DRM!!!!!!
Anyone who watches these crap shows in the first place is not a free thinking tech savvy person. The people who are complaining are just sheep anyways. They are sad that they cant watch NBC shows?? Losers.. Why don't you people stop watching the crap that studios put out and do something useful with your lives? Never mind, its apparent that the people who watch these shows are the ones who voted for Bush.. Twice! Keep up the great work America!!!
Maybe you should spend less time playing with toys before you make such an uninformed comment. You're timing couldn't be more pathetic since "Green Week" just ended. The NBC logo was green, pro environment ads constantly, and all the shows had an environmental theme written in. Al Gore guest starred on 30 Rock.
I can promise you that 99% creative minds behind non-Fox network television did not vote for Bush.
Thanks NBC, Ignore the best operating system, media player, and media distribution on the market - Apple OS X, Quicktime, iTunes? No wonder you are still in last place in the network battle. I will now be getting the Office and Heroes from other places, but I can assure you it won't be from NBC Direct!
Sorry, but I just don't understand some of these bass-ackwards comments.
Damn you NBC, I WANT to pay for downloads. Why are you making us download it for free? Has Jobs really brainwashed you people so much that you want to PAY for free stuff?
BTW, if you're a true techie, you'd just record your favorite NBC show with Myth and re-encode to whichever damn format your PC, Mac, Ipod, Zune, Zen or whatever plays...automatically right after the show airs, in HD too boot. Dumbasses.
Mac support is coming in 2008. Stop your bitching, for crying out loud. Install Windows if you want to watch it on your Mac so badly.
I for one prefer this to the old NBC streaming service (flash video FTL, yuck) and it's free so I don't have to pay like with iTunes. Geez people. It's free. If you don't like it, don't use it.
The new service stinks. The page stops loading, times out, yadda yadda. It's awful.
I'll stick with iTunes.
ignorance is bliss then....
not that i like this new service but no nbc = lot less crap to torrent
same behavior aplied to other networks and you soon run out of shows to watch...
piratebay ftw?