Murphy Mac

Apple's iTunes Chump Change for Hollywood

The iPod tax was laughable. Like iPods weren't flying off the shelves before NBC had their shows on iTunes. Zucker actually said they sold all those iPods BECAUSE of their content.

GM should pay a tax to Exxon. I would never buy a car if Exxon didn't have that great Exxon stuff to put inside it. Nice try Zucker.

Outside of Thursday night I don't think I could name an NBC show. Oh wait, Law & Order. But that's it.

Apple's iTunes Chump Change for Hollywood

Have to agree with chano...

Hollywood is laughing like the music industry did - only to find iTunes as the number 1 retailer of their product. models created in the fifties have been lucky to survive as long as they have.

Like Chano said, people can pick and choose now. There's so much media on the internet that's more interesting than what hollywood and the networks have to offer. I've dropped my DirecTV as they tried to make me pay for dozens of channels I didn't want with their inflexible packages. Instead of the extra fifteen bucks they tried to gouge out of me they now get zero Murphy dollars.

I save a lot of money by buying only the content I want to watch.

Chano was right about blu-ray too: for tons of consumers, even those interested in entertainment tech, video disc formats are on the wrong side of a diminishing returns curve. the improvement in picture quality just isn't enough to make people pay so much more. blu-ray for the set-top box doesn't entice me at all, I'm more than satisfied with dvd quality. Others crave higher and higher resolution - no argument there, but at today's price points MANY will ignore blu-ray.

Zucker holding his job through all this only highlights the disarray of the networks. Look for him starring on a reality show some day soon.

Did Apple Cave or Did NBC Bend?

Maybe it sounds chilidish, I don't know. But NBC execs would have a hard time explaining to shareholders how leaving iTunes was good for business when they were the best selling tv shows for the best selling portable media player. How do they explain the lost revenue?
They had hulu in the wings, yes. But the content couldn't be placed on an ipod. The networks need to embrace the changes, not run away.
Still, NBC coming back AND offering some free content is a good sign that they're catching on to the new world.