NBC's Zucker hints at return to iTunes?

After a very public cat-fight resulting in the discontinuation of NBC content on iTunes, the relationship between NBC and Apple seems to be on the mend. Perhaps you recall NBC Universal's CEO, Jeff Zucker, saying that Steve Jobs and iTunes had "destroyed the music business." This in retaliation to Apple's damning press release in which it chided NBC for wanting to more than double the retail price for its per episode downloads, something NBC flatly denied. This morning, the Financial Times is reporting on a kinder and gentler kinship between the media giants. According to the FT, Zucker says, "We've said all along that we admire Apple, that we want to be in business with Apple." He then unexpectedly adds, "We're great fans of Steve Jobs." No telling what has caused the turnabout. Perhaps the writers strike gave both parties time to reflect on their mounting lost revenue. Or maybe it's residual goodwill on the heels of Universal inking an iTunes rental deal. Whatever the case, it will be good to see NBC's content return to iTunes whenever the strike might end.

Update: The love-in continues over at BusinessWeek where Jobs comments on the NBC Universal situation saying, "We'll put it back together on the TV thing. Everybody lost. But NBC is a great company, and Apple is a great company." Get a room you two.

[Thanks, Bart L. and MJ420]

[Garrick @ Feb 18th 2008 8:13AM]

Yes, we could all watch free TV on our computers. I think Apple has shown that people want choices. Choices where and how they consume content. The iPod would never have been successful had no one cared to take their music (read media) with them. I want NBC/Universal back on iTunes so I can ditch my crappy cable company. It's the choice of delivery that I'm after, much like I like good theaters with stadium seating, digital projection and tremendous sound.

No one has mentioned the comparison between revenue in an ad-based viewing model versus iTunes $1.99 per viewer. Do you think that NBC was getting anywhere NEAR $1.99 per household from advertisers? Half that? Doubt it.

[Jeff @ Jan 21st 2008 1:09AM]

seems hulu isnt as good of a distribution method as they thought. Although I don't like paying the 2 dollars per tv show, the vertical integration of itunes makes it the easiest solution for myself.

[Bender Bending Rodriguez @ Jan 21st 2008 1:21AM]

It's also an occasional thing for many people who happen to miss a broadcast show.

The financial benefit I see to iTunes is for people who want to watch only one or two shows from a pay channel like Showtime or HBO but don't want to pay for digital cable, the channel package and box rental fees.

Anyway, I think these rumours will prove to be true. NBC did something pretty stupid. Even if they wanted to start their own ad-based system to kill off an income stream is just bad business.

[max andrews @ Jan 21st 2008 8:54AM]

You do know you can watch all the shows for free on nbc.com right?

[drew @ Jan 21st 2008 1:09AM]

Thanks for reconsidering giving us NBC content on iTunes, you schmuck!! LOL

[Andrew @ Jan 21st 2008 9:23AM]

Not all of the shows. The Office, as well as a few of the other high ratings shows can't be found on the website. They reserve those for something called "DVD sales".

[dsgamer21 @ Jan 21st 2008 9:58AM]

Andrew: http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/video/episodes.shtml

I've watched every episode of the fourth season of The Office online, for free.

[ekwmin @ Jan 21st 2008 11:43AM]

Well, you know that you can probably find all the shows for free in bootleg form, right? I agree with Bender, it was stupid of NBC to kill off a revenue stream because iTunes and NBC's new ad supported stream can co-exist without affecting each other much. It goes to show how little NBC understands this business and the customers. Same goes for everyone who says you can find it free here and there. It just caters to different needs. I think that when it comes to movie download service LD will be KING! and the next generation HD disc format will dominate HD format in sales. At least from a business standpoint for the time being, or until we get much larger broadband bandwidth.

[a ham sandwich @ Jan 21st 2008 1:10AM]

come on engadget, apple didnt get rid of the multi-colored logo for nothing.

as for the rumors. def hope they're true!

[Will @ Jan 21st 2008 5:40AM]

I hope they'll bring it back. It's too classic to discard forever.

Arby's Roast Beef Sandwich is Delicious!

[Joe V @ Jan 21st 2008 10:44AM]

I was thinking the same thing. I think they did it because it matches the rainbow-colored peacock.

I bought Battlestar Galactica season 2 from iTunes, but resorted to BitTorrent for season 3 after Universal bailed. I'd gladly go legit if they come back to the fold.

[snitch @ Jan 21st 2008 1:18AM]

well now that Andrea Jung its sitting at apples board and also has been sitting at GE board the parent company of NBC for more than 10 years, i don't think its a good idea for NBC to get her upset, when Steve said that NBC Universal was on board for the movie rentals i was shock to because Andrea Jung has only been on apples board for about 2 weeks or so.

[RyanTV @ Jan 21st 2008 1:18AM]

welp, that certainly didn't take long! Lost revenue stream is a mo-fo.

[giantenemycrab @ Jan 21st 2008 1:19AM]

So, Apple won in other words.

[Mike @ Jan 21st 2008 1:43AM]

We all won.

[Bart Lee @ Jan 21st 2008 1:21AM]

There's some NBC content available again on iTunes already. Announcement tomorrow maybe?

[tande @ Jan 21st 2008 2:18AM]

Where did you see NBC content? I don't see a heading for them still. Remember that just because a show is on NBC doesn't make it a NBC show.

I hope they do some back cataloging with it. There are a couple of Heroes episodes I'd like to have and a few Office eps.

[frozo @ Jan 21st 2008 2:22AM]

Liar.

[Bart Lee @ Jan 21st 2008 2:23AM]

Saw it here:
http://www.apple.com/enews/2006/qissue/12/05ha.html

But I think you're right. The stuff that's available looks like it's all owned by other studios. I thought My Name is Earl was NBC's but maybe it's Fox.

[Tim Ficke @ Jan 21st 2008 10:03AM]

it is not available in the us store/

[Noah @ Jan 21st 2008 1:24AM]

Well, I definitely think the Universal movie rental deal is a HUGE harbinger of things to come. NBC-Universal reneging on its sudden severance from Apple seems like fiction, but it happened.

FYI, Hulu is great. I hate paying for shows, so being able to go online and watch them is great. I only wish I had one of the private beta keys, they not only get higher bitrate videos, but direct access to literally 99% of the stuff Fox and NBC have made in the past few years. *sigh*

[Quix @ Jan 21st 2008 2:15AM]

FYI, watching shows on the computer via some annoying Web interface surrounded by ads sucks. Period. The sooner the networks realize this, the better off we'll all be. I didn't buy a home theater system and a nice sofa so I can sit in my desk chair and watch shows on my computer.

Stop supporting this model so the networks will stop pushing it.

Hulu needs to fade away. Pronto.

[Dave @ Jan 21st 2008 11:36AM]

You'll find that certain shows don't work any more.. like heroes is now not available.. there's only 22 clips.. you can bet hulu won't be seeing me return.

[MJ420 @ Jan 21st 2008 1:28AM]

Jobs already hinted at this:

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/ByteOfTheApple/blog/archives/2008/01/my_posterior_ha.html

FTA: "As for NBC Universal, Jobs predicts that the stalemate won’t last forever. “We’ll put it back together on the TV thing. Everybody lost (when Zucker pulled his content off iTunes). But NBC is a great company, and Apple is a great company,” neither of which make a habit of ignoring their customers’ desires, he said. “Fortunately,” he half-joked, “there was a writers’ strike, so it didn’t matter as much as it might have.”

[ChrisG @ Jan 21st 2008 1:40AM]

Bomchicka wa wa! lol.

[sk8rpro @ Jan 21st 2008 1:46AM]

Great! Once this comes to pass, we'll need to get some additional episodes since most shows are in hiatus bc of the writer's strike.

[Reader @ Jan 21st 2008 1:51AM]

Wonder if some of these bigshots postpone announcements like this because it's a shot to their pride.

[Ronald McD @ Jan 21st 2008 1:54AM]

So uh... what happened to that whole Fanfare thing between NBC and SanDisk?

[atomicmatt @ Jan 21st 2008 2:05AM]

This will prob. be a $20 update if you want to see NBC on itunes :)

[DT @ Jan 21st 2008 2:09AM]

Yeah, $20 to upgrade your iPod with 10 NBC TV shows.

[DT @ Jan 21st 2008 2:08AM]

Excellent! I was wondering what I could do with this extra 2 mil I had on my desk. Since I only invest in business opportunities presented in the comments section of blogs, this is fortuitous timing!

[DT @ Jan 21st 2008 9:30AM]

Wow that was a lot funnier when the spam was here.

[Joe @ Jan 21st 2008 2:44AM]

How about the obvious; both parties know the revenues from video downloads stinks and realized that cutting each other's throats wasn't going to improve it any. If NBC does show up on iTunes again, it will be because of a deal, probably involving a higher royalty rate to NBC, non-exclusivity and letting Apple crow about how they won (that's not just sarcasm; after some recent snubs, this would mean a great deal to Apple.)

[Joe @ Jan 21st 2008 2:49AM]

BTW, the writer's strike may have influenced this mutual admiration society, but not for the reasons you may think. One of the problems with the WGA's demands is that they have little basis in current economic reality. By creating concrete agreements, NBC has a way to go back to the WGA and say "this is what we got, this is what we can give you."

[Somebody @ Jan 21st 2008 3:33AM]

NBC-Universal treated Apple and YouTube like they were the ones doing them a favor. Saturday Night Live ratings spiked when their viral videos were on YouTube and shows like The Office would've never taken off without iTunes. NBC got cocky and ungrateful, fighting the very people that were helping them. Now ABC, CBS and FOX are kicking its ass in the ratings. I hope they learned the lesson so I can download the next season of Battlestar Galactica.

[aka_gus @ Jan 21st 2008 4:46AM]

Yay!

[Joe @ Jan 21st 2008 5:09AM]

With this writer's strike, will Apple refund all that money spend on season's passes to shows that finished half-way through? Or maybe give it back as credit?

[MediaMoshPit @ Jan 21st 2008 11:56AM]

Didn't you hear the guy? "Everybody lost". That includes you too. ;)

[michas_pi @ Jan 21st 2008 5:05AM]

Bah, horsefeathers!

/Pale Force

[raaaaaa @ Jan 21st 2008 7:25AM]

so who gave in? apple or NBC?

[Galley @ Jan 21st 2008 8:41AM]

NBC shows will return, followed by the Universal catalog of music available in DRM-free iTunes Plus.

[chrisa @ Jan 21st 2008 11:58AM]

They're both as*holes, but at least Jobs is a visionary. What's Zucker done, besides single-handedly ruin NBC? (For which, inexplicably, he continues to get promoted!) I've never seen a more inspired example of "failing upwards." Yeah, I'm jealous. I admit it. I wish I could so utterly devoid of taste and so out of touch with what the public wants, yet make millions of dollars. If he ever leaves NBC he should do seminars.

[MrTwist @ Jan 21st 2008 5:50PM]

NBC is coming back to Apple with their tail between the legs. Pure and simple. Sometimes greed does not pay.

[c.Lake @ Jan 22nd 2008 9:30PM]

What... In all this analyzing, nobody has an "I told you so" written in this post? Come on. The time for talking is long over, and the time for laughing in NBC's face is LONG over due.