What NBC was thinking as they were writing
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We are also disappointed in not being able to successfully negotiate a new iTunes agreement with Apple.
Whoops. Maybe we shot our wad too early. Our bad.
We’re hopeful that we can reach a resolution before the existing contract expires. However, we felt it important to set the record straight.
We’re big losers. Let’s see how we can spin this to make ourself look like slightly less big losers.
We never asked to double the wholesale price for our TV shows.
We wanted to triple it, really, but we figured starting at 2x would be a good base before leaping to 3x.
In fact, our negotiations were centered on our request for flexibility in wholesale pricing, including the ability to package shows together in ways that could make our content even more attractive for consumers.
If we could only FORCE customers to buy shows they don’t want along with the shows they DO want, perhaps the ratings on our poorly-written shows would go up! Sure, that doesn’t make any sense, but this is NBC. What more do you expect from us?
It is clear that Apple’s retail pricing strategy for its iTunes service is designed to drive sales of Apple devices, at the expense of those who create the content that make these devices worth buying.
Yes, Apple wants to screw Hollywood. And, in that, they’ll have the backing of 95% of the tech community. If iTunes could just charge more, NBC would save the creative community by keeping even more of the money and, er, well, wait. That doesn’t work, either, does it?
In addition, we asked Apple to take concrete steps to protect content from piracy, since it is estimated that the typical iPod contains a significant amount of illegally downloaded material.
(See John Gruber.) And then invoke the DMCA! Furthermore, if you download THE OFFICE from iTunes, the terrorists win! Terrorists pay $1.99 for 22 minutes of television. God-fearing American freedom-lovers want to pay $5, dagnabit!
Furthermore, we want consumers to know that all our returning series, including new episodes, will be available on iTunes through the remainder of the contract, which expires in early December. Our content is also available on NBC.com, Amazon.com, and the soon-to-launch hulu.com.
Hulu.com is known internally as BWAH-HA-HA.com
September 2nd, 2007 at 12:33 pm
The thing that really just makes NO sense to me- not that any of it is clear- is the whole “steps to prevent piracy” thing. The whole point of iTunes is to make stuff affordable and easy to get so people will pay rather than pirate it. And they have multiple levels of protection available; that’s part of the point of iTunes Plus. Is there something I haven’t heard of where iTunes was the only source of something that was subsequently pirated?
Oh, well. I’m just glad I was holding out for Heroes on DVD, I really do need to pick that up.
September 2nd, 2007 at 3:21 pm
Does anyone else see the hypocrisy with Apple controlling retail price point of their products but not allowing content providers to do the same with iTunes?
September 4th, 2007 at 10:07 am
Hey, their site, their rules.
September 4th, 2007 at 1:25 pm
“Hey, their site, their rules.”
You could say the same thing about Best Buy and Circuit City stores, but they can’t set the prices of iPods and Macs at anything other than the prices that Apple gives them.
September 4th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
Bart makes an interesting point. In the end, I think this shows how powerful Apple can be… they can control the price point of their own products AND other company’s products!
In the end, I think that NBC was trying to bully Apple into doing what NBC wanted, and Apple called their bluff. I think NBC will suffer from this more than Apple will. I think NBC should have the ability to price their products; however, I also think that pricing shows above $1.99 each is ludicrous, and that bundling shows together isn’t a great idea either. By preventing NBC from doing this, I think Apple has stopped a diluting of iTunes, which is good.