May 6, 2008
Microsoft welcomes NBC into the Zune Social with the promise of more DRM
Posted May. 6, ’08, 8:55 AM PT by Aayush Arya
Category | Apple » Rivals
If you’re a Heroes or The Office fan, here’s some news you don’t want to hear. Nancy Gohring, in a story for IDG News Service, reports that NBC has struck a deal with the devil Microsoft to make their TV shows available on the Zune online store (yes, we’re just as surprised as you to hear that such a thing exists).
The videos will cost $1.99 each and customers will also get to choose from shows from Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, Turner Broadcasting, and VH1, comprising a total of about 800 episodes.
If the price is going to be the same, why did NBC not return to the iTunes Store itself then? The devil is in the details—Microsoft lured them away with the promise of flexible pricing and more serious measures to fight off piracy (in other words, more DRM). This means that NBC may choose to sell certain episodes at higher or lower rates, something that Apple wouldn’t allow.
Julio Estrada, General Manager for Zune Social, hinted that this service might in future be made available to Xbox users too. In the meanwhile, your only way to watch those shows on your Xbox setup is to connect your Zune (after you buy one) to the device.
This doesn’t sound good to me. If NBC is striking deals with companies like Microsoft, it might mean that it isn’t too unhappy about not being on the iTunes Store and it isn’t going to come running back into Apple’s arms, like we’d hoped.
That’s a shame, really, because NBC does have some pretty good shows, even though Heroes took a dreadful downturn in the second season. Let’s hope these kids stop their little squabbles and just get along.
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This is BAD news for Zune owners. The piracy measures, according earlier comments from NBC, are likely measures to use the Zune software as a gatekeeper. No copyrighted material on you Zune unless you bought it from Microsoft. I wouldn't trust Apple to do this, I certainly don't trust Microsoft.
"This doesn’t sound good to me. If NBC is striking deals with companies like Microsoft, it might mean that it isn’t too unhappy about not being on the iTunes Store"
Yeah, they will be much happier with, let say 10% of the revenue BUT with flexible pricing! And more DRM to boot! Seriously, this is just a power play on NBC's part. I am guessing they are missing the money...