Oh, NBC. You and Apple used to be BFFs. Now you’re always at each other’s throats—all over money. How pedestrian. The latest round in the NBC v. Apple spat is the launch of NBC’s ad-supported video streaming site, Hulu, which went into private beta in the past couple days.
Hulu doesn’t have as much selection as iTunes does; at present, it’s mainly limited to TV shows from Fox and NBC, including clips from shows like Saturday Night Live, as well as a handful of movies. But many of those are shows that you won’t find on iTunes any more, due to NBC taking its toys and going home. So if you’re looking for new episodes of Heroes, Scrubs, or The Office, Hulu’s the place to be.
Is there any chance of a reconciliation, as I predicted way back when the schism first occurred? It doesn’t seem like it. NBC CEO Jeff Zucker, speaking at a breakfast at Syracuse’s Newhouse School of Communications this past Sunday, said that Apple had “destroyed the music business.” Wait, what? Destroyed the music business? There’s no music business any more? Oh, hold on, there’s more to that quote:
“We know that Apple has destroyed the music business – in terms of pricing – and if we don’t take control, they’ll do the same thing on the video side.” [Emphasis added]Oh, pricing. That’s right. All because Apple wouldn’t agree to variable pricing, the music business has been destroyed. Yeah, I’m really going to cry myself to sleep tonight for those record label moguls with their fancy cars and bling.
Hulu appears to be a duplication of the broadcast model on a Web site. The video is streamed, available for a limited time, and contains advertisements. As such, it doesn't complete directly with iTunes at all.
In any case, since they already provide these services on their Web sites, Hulu seems more like a back-end change than a front-end change. Nobody is going to visit, out-of-the-blue, Hulu to watch an NBC show. They will visit NBC.com and be directed to Hulu.
I would think iTunes is rather a competitor of the DVD market. iTunes and DVDs are actually similarly priced, but each has advantages. iTunes is available shortly after a show airs and can be watched on an iPod. DVDs have special features and can be traded or rented.
In music it feels like iTunes has the pricing about right. I know I was getting sticker shock buying any new CDs at retail. Somewhere in the $10 ballpark feels like the right price to me.