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April 17, 2008

itunes_store

Peacock-a-thon: NBC wants to be on iTunes, really. There’s just a few little things…

Posted Apr. 17, ’08, 8:39 AM PT by Dan Moren
Category | iTunes » iTunes Store

Geroge KliavkoffIt’s been a while since we’ve had NBC and Apple sniping at each other—I know I’ve missed my recommended daily allowance—so let’s have at it. NBC’s Chief Digital Officer (that is a great title) George Kliavkoff was speaking at the Ad:Tech conference in San Francisco and took the time to discuss the network’s relationship with Apple.

“We’d love to be on iTunes. It has a great customer experience. We’d love to figure out a way to distribute our content on iTunes,” he said, but wouldn’t comment on any negotiations.

You know, George, I’m not a Chief Digital Officer or anything, but I’m pretty sure that you had your content distributed on iTunes. It’s not like trying to find the Ark of the Covenant or anything.

Yes, we know—you disagreed with Apple over pricing. You wanted variable pricing and bundling, and Apple wanted to keep the flat rate.

“The music industry guys would have something to say about how the pricing has affected their product over the last few years,” he added.

Frankly, I’ve got something to say about how the music industry guys have affected their product over the last few years. I’m not sure you want to take cues from guys who sue their own customers.

The other issue that Kliavkoff discussed was piracy and how it’s hurting NBC.

“If you look at studies about MP3 players, especially leading MP3 players and what portion of that content is pirated, and think about how that content gets onto that device, it has to go through a gatekeeping piece of software, which would be a convenient place to put some antipiracy measures,” Kliavkoff said in an onstage interview at the Ad:Tech conference here. “One of the big issues for NBC is piracy. We are financially harmed every day by piracy. It results in us not being able to invest as much money in the next generation of film and TV products.”

Yeah, I love this idea. Given how well DRM has worked, I really want a piece of software telling me what I can or cannot load onto my iPod. More restrictions solve everything!

Besides, is the piracy that NBC contends is giving them a big ouchie really the kind of thing that people are loading up on their iPods? Seems to me, that the video people primarily watch on their iPods are either things that they’ve bought legitimately from the iTunes Store or things they’ve ripped from DVDs which—legality issues aside—they’ve probably paid for. The pirated television content NBC is worried about is really being watched on computers and streamed to TVs.

Remember back when Steve Jobs introduced the iTunes Store? He positioned it as an attempt to compete with piracy, rather than trying to obliterate it—an effort he knew would be futile. Why is piracy winning in the television/movie arena? Not just because it’s cheaper than buying your movies, but because it’s easier and freer (as in speech). If I were to go download a television show from Bit Torrent, I could go watch it on my Xbox 360 without having to worry about DRM; or I could transcode it to my iPhone. Or watch it on my computer. As many times as I want, and with the ability to pause, rewind, fast forward. With no ads.

I find it amusing that the media companies have to spend all this money impeding technological progress just so they can figure out how to monetize their content. It’s one step forward and four steps back.

Frankly, NBC/FOX’s Hulu streaming site isn’t actually that bad; I don’t mind watching a couple ads for shows that I a) have no intention of buying or b) don’t want to spend the time downloading. See? You’re competing with piracy in free, instant gratification and you’re winning me over. Good job.

Now consider heading back to iTunes so we can move along here.


6 Comments

fletcher Author Profile Page said:

These comments are so disingenuous since it was NBC that pulled out of the arrangement. If they would like to be on the service then they simply have to sign back up.

April 17, 2008 8:49 AM
Donn Author Profile Page said:

Awesome.

"We were worried that the shows people were watching on their iPods were pirated, so we took our shows off of iTunes, and therefore guaranteed it."

April 17, 2008 11:23 AM
Dave-O said:

His title should be e-Director of Information, Operations, and Technology

April 17, 2008 11:58 AM
Dave-O said:

"The pirated television content NBC is worried about is really being watched on computers and streamed to TVs."

I don't think you have any data to support that. Grated he doesn't know how much content is pirated either. ("Hmm, a couple years back the average iPod user had purchased 25 songs from iTunes. The largest iPod is 120GB. 120,000MB - say 50MB = 119,950MB of stolen content! No that reasoning isn't the least bit specious, why do you ask?")

Asking Apple to be the gatekeeper is tantamount to asking Apple to throw in the towel. There is no way even Apple can compete if it takes measures to keep people from doing what they are doing (namely ripping CDs and DVDs and loading homemade content).

If only they'd put their "top men" on this, they might just figure out how to remove their heads from their behinds.

April 17, 2008 12:11 PM
Anonymous said:

Part of the problem is , it is their "top men" doing this

April 17, 2008 4:37 PM
Kelmon said:

I'm sorry, but why is policing the computer the role of iTunes. I mean, it's not like iTunes is the only media playing application and that the iPod is the only PMP. If you REALLY want to ensure that people aren't watching pirated material then something needs to be done at the OS level. Ultimately, however, while this suggestion would be more effective than something employed within iTunes it is even more abhorrent. Given the fun and games that Windows Genuine Advantage causes with its false-positives (and subsequent really enjoyable calls to Microsoft's Indian call center), the prospect of iTunes or anything else incorrectly identifying something as stolen is something I won't accept.

April 17, 2008 11:49 PM

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