NBC to allow free show downloads

Wednesday, Sep. 19 2007 | Author: Drew

Starting in October, the Peacock will be offering free downloads of some of its biggest shows.

Heroes, The Office, Life, Bionic Woman, 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights, Late Night with Conan O’Brien and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno will all be available for download from the network’s new service, “NBC Direct”. Viewers will have a one-week window to watch the show before it’s locked down. Additional features, such as HD content, usage on portable devices and “expanded platform functionality” (i.e. Macs) will come down the pipe later on.

Vivi Zigler, Executive VP of NBC Digital Entertainment said the following:

“With the creation of this new service, we are acknowledging that now, more than ever, viewers want to be in control of how, when and where they consumer their favorite entertainment. Not only does this feature give them more control, but it also gives them a higher quality video experience.”

I’m sorry, but how does limiting (a) the length of time I have to watch a show, (b) what device I can watch a show on, and (c) what computer I can watch a show on give me more control?

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6 Responses for "NBC to allow free show downloads"

Jimmy

September 19th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
1

Fuck off! This is a HUGE step for most channel providers! I presume you’re just anal because you’re a mac viewer but as things go this is exactly the same as most other channels are offering, there aren’t many that offer more are there now? Be happy with what you’ve got for fucks sake, its more than you had before, maybe eventually things will be more open but these companies have to test the water do they not? We are in the middle of massive change.
Drew

September 20th, 2007 at 12:11 am
2

I think that was a bit…excessive.

Yes, I agree that this is a bold, good move for NBC, to some degree. Having the file saved on my computer versus is infinitely better than having to worry about the hiccups of watching it streaming over the internet. What I don’t agree with, though, is NBC boasting about how progressive they’re being with this, and how it’s all about giving the viewer more control, when it actually takes control away from the viewer.

Yes, I guess I am “anal” because I’m a Mac viewer. But guess what…there are a lot of Mac viewers out there. And if something happens and Heroes or Office doesn’t get recorded on their DVR’s, they’re out of luck. While we had several options before, now we have decidedly fewer. So, yeah, you’ll have to forgive me if I’m a bit upset by that.
John

September 20th, 2007 at 7:27 am
3

What exactly does it give me a “higher quality video experience” than? I’m not sure what we’re comparing against here, but without HD, it is actually decided lower quality than, say, a series 3 TiVo.

On the bright side, I’m less likely this way to ‘catch up’ on episodes of new shows I didn’t record, and therefore less likely to watch them. Perhaps I should thank NBC for inadvertently curbing my TV habit. :-D
Griffith

September 20th, 2007 at 8:40 am
4

This isn’t an evolution, this is a step back. At the very least, NBC should open this service, but still allow consumers to purchase higher quality content to view in their media devices.

How did Apple earn the sympathy of consumer with it’s iTunes store? It certainly wasn’t by giving us “cheap” (in the sense of quality) solutions such as this one.
Curtis

September 20th, 2007 at 4:52 pm
5

So they’re trying a few things to see what sticks. What’s wrong with that? It sort of reminds me of the dot com boom: everybody wants to get Something, Anything, out there Right Now before they miss out on something Big.

Offering free download with embeded commercials via Unbox, AOL, and whoever else is the way to go. Going direct is just a way for NBC to get purified numbers to back my point.
Peanut

September 20th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
6

I’m gonna go ahead and assume that this is US only? Or can we in the UK watch the latest episodes of our favourite US shows months before they air over here?