Amazon's Unbox Grabs NBC Programming From iTunes

In a move that could sway the balance of power in online TV rentals, NBC said late Tuesday it will no longer sell its new Fall TV programming through Apple's iTunes, opting to go through Amazon.com's Unbox digital download service instead. The move means episodes of top iTunes sellers like The Office and Heroes will now sell exclusively through Unbox for $1.99, the same price Apple charged. As part of the deal between GE-owned NBC and Amazon, users will be able to download pilots of NBC's new shows for free on Unbox beginning Monday, before their season premiers. Apple will continue to sell existing NBC shows through the end of 2007, but will not offer any new NBC shows. NBC programming accounts for roughly 30% of iTunes' TV show sales.

Sources: Press Release, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, AP, The Seattle Times
Commentary: Amazon gets shot at NBC show revenue [MarketWatch] • Bernstein Sees More Operating Margin Gains Ahead For Amazon • Apple iTunes Outsells Amazon And Target • The Long and Short on Amazon, Netflix, Google, Microsoft And Apple
Stocks/ETFs to watch: AMZN, GE. Competitors: AAPL. ETFs: FDN, HHH, IAH
Earnings call transcript: Amazon.com Q2 2007
Related: Amazon Unbox

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Comments

[Julian Ivan...:]

"Major coup?" Hardly quite...

2007 Sep 05 08:41 AM

[StreetSweeper:]

Oops, there was a bad idea. NBC's "tough guy" stance against Apple will turn around to bite them in the rear. They are up against Jobs, whose marketing savvy outweights them and NBC will regret their decision. By embracing Unbox and TiVo they are limiting their distribution to a shrinking share. If they had gone with Apple, perhaps they would have less profit now, but a vastly larger and growing market in the future. Tsk, tsk...heads should roll.

2007 Sep 06 04:43 PM