From an NBC press release:
Amazon.com and NBC Universal today announced that a wealth of quality TV content from NBC Universal is now available on Amazon Unbox (http://unbox.amazon.com), Amazon.com’s digital video download service. Amazon Unbox and NBC Universal are offering customers a variety of content packages, including up to 30 percent off when purchasing full seasons of their favorite TV series.
Popular NBC shows now available on Amazon Unbox include the Emmy Award-winning series The Office …
Link: NBC UNIVERSAL TELEVISION CONTENT NOW AVAILABLE ON AMAZON UNBOX
Previously posted news about NBC/iTunes after the jump.
Aug. 31: NBC statement
From a statement by Cory Shields, EVP Communications of NBC Universal, regarding its iTunes contract:
We never asked to double the wholesale price for our TV shows. In fact, our negotiations were centered on our request for flexibility in wholesale pricing, including the ability to package shows together in ways that could make our content even more attractive for consumers … Furthermore, we want consumers to know that all our returning series, including new episodes, will be available on iTunes through the remainder of the contract, which expires in early December.
Link: Aug. 31: NBC ‘DISAPPOINTED’ IN NOT NEGOTIATING NEW ITUNES PACT
Aug. 31: Apple press release
Apple today announced that it will not be selling NBC television shows for the upcoming television season on its online iTunes Store (www.itunes.com). The move follows NBC’s decision to not renew its agreement with iTunes after Apple declined to pay more than double the wholesale price for each NBC TV episode, which would have resulted in the retail price to consumers increasing to $4.99 per episode from the current $1.99.
Link: Aug. 31: iTunes Store to Stop Selling NBC Television Shows
Aug. 31: New York Times
NBC Universal, unable to come to an agreement with Apple on pricing, has decided not to renew its contract to sell digital downloads of television shows on iTunes.
Link: Aug. 31: NBC Will Not Renew ITunes Contract
Tipsters: Tyler, Jeremy, Alison, zurik
am i the only one who thinks this is a huge mistake?
It’s a huge mistake. But then again.. there is Hulu.com.
lame NBC!
wtf! should we starat a petition or something?
No, I agree with you, fleece it out. I think being available on iTunes definitely helps “The Office”. Let’s hope the parties involved can reach an amicable arrangement.
I think it’s a negotiating tactic.
Oh no!
OMG! NOOOOO!!! This is horrible horrible horrible news!
It is a very big mistake.
I don’t know who to point fingers at here, NBC for wanting to much or Apple for not giving enough. I assume NBC is making a ton of money and the Office owes much of its success to iTunes, so in that sense it is a stupid decision.
Of course, NBC may be playing the negotiation game here but we’ll see.
Also, I guess NBC wants illegal viewing of their shows to skyrocket. I really liked buying them on iTunes and easily syncing it to my ipod.
i got to office game late, around the end of season 2, and it was seriously the itunes downloads that caught me up and got me completely and irrevocably obsessed. for new fans, nbc would be dumb to allow this to happen, unless they’re planning on airing their own shoes on their own nbc player– like abc does with grey’s, ugly betty, etc.
This would suck bigtime!!!! The office is one of the only reason I bought an Ipod video. What the hell are they thinking? I mean this is how The Office was saved. “#%%#%#!
Dunderhead, I agree about the petition. This is horrible news.
oooh, this is a really bad move on nbc. most buzz for season was generated purely from word of mouth/ipods.
I’ve never downloaded a show from itunes, but I think that this a seriously dumb move.
Without The Office on my iPod, whatever will I do with my lunch hour? That’s very unfortunate and sad. Hopefully they’ll come to an agreement by then. I would think they’d lose a lose a lot of money if they cancelled, no?
I don’t even own an iPod, but I’d definitely say people should voice their concerns to both NBC and Apple (I wouldn’t assume the problem is with NBC – it sounds from the article like a lot of people have issues with Apple). Knowing the head of NBC’s connection specifically to The Office, I think if enough Office fans voice their concerns then maybe at least the two sides will get back to the negotiating table.
Apple saved the Office. All the cross-promotion has been such a boon for both companies, and constantly high iTunes sales has been a major factor in keeping the show going despite only so-so ratings. This is a bad move on the part of NBC.
I don’t have an iPod but I have downloaded shows off of iTunes to watch on my laptop. I also agree this is a mistake – it was partly because of iTunes that The Office started taking off. Hopefully they’ll work it out. Though, I think can also download episodes off of Amazon.com’s new service, too (which does work with the video player I have). I have no idea if they’ll have S4 episodes, though.
Wow, guys. I’m a college student and last year I didn’t have enough money for a TV, so every Friday morning I would literally refresh every few minutes on the Office’s iTunes page so I could buy it asap. Without iTunes, I would literally not have been able to watch season 3. I would watch episodes on my computer whenever I traveled and didn’t have internet access (shoots a hole in hulu, if you ask me), and I was happy to spend the money. I would be willing to spend more if it means keping the Office available to fans. We are what it’s about, and the powers that be should realize that.
Wow, I hope they work it out because like others, I am thinking this is a huge mistake. I don’t even download from iTunes and I just think – bad idea!
This will be a stupid, stupid mistake on NBC’s part.
Hey NBC: Just accept that Apple is awesome, and GIVE ME MY SHOW. Gr.
Hmmm I wonder why they would choose to do this. It seems like they’re making a TON of money through itunes…
Seriously??? This sucks!! I don’t have an ipod but download onto my laptop and this has kept me alive all summer!! Shun *waving arm* to NBC!Tanster, let’s start a petition!
So much disappointment with NBC this season — trying to involve political initiatives & now taking away one of the most popular methods of supporting the show? :o(
The reason they are doing this is right here: http://www.hulu.com/
It’s NBC and FOX’s YouTube competitor that is also a video-on-demand service. It’s starting a beta test next month, and all indications is that they will be selling full-length episodes of NBC and FOX TV shows.
The Office wouldn’t be nearly as popular if nobody had the ability to download the show.
I seriously doubt that Apple will let nearly
50% of it’s TV shows just go.
This seems to be a classic example of Apple
wanting to keep prices low, so good for them.
If NBC leaves, it’s their greed driving it,
not Apple, and they can just count me out
of buying the episodes on another service.
If NBC ditches Apple, I guess I’ll
be buying Season 4 on DVD only.
(or HD-DVD if it is still alive…)
I think Andy is exactly right. The Office will still be available online – it just won’t be on ITunes. All media companies are trying to figure out how to make the most money from downloads and online rights and that means Apple will have competition.
I know that I just bought my Ipod Video for the sole purpose of outputting the Office to my television.
iTunes “saved” the Office’s ratings for crying out loud!
good. NBC shouldn’t try and change Apple’s price model. that’s why iTunes has become huge, it at least TRIED to appear like it wasn’t strangling its customers for every dollar.
Hmmmm…
No Office or Heroes for my iPod anymore? Seeing Ugly Betty, Lost or Grey’s (notice a theme here?) as the #1 downloaded show this upcoming season is enough for me not to want to even open iTunes anymore.
Hmmm…isn’t napster’s music compatible w/ iPods?
There is no way I will buy from this Hulu place. This will really suck because I will be busy this next year on Thursday nights, and I don’t have a VCR or DVR or TiVO… F!
This really bites because I have all of the Office episodes on my iPod so that I can listen to them at work. This really sucks!!
There is still time for them to change their minds….these are two pretty big powerhouse companies going head to head.
In the article it talks about how having different costs within itunes will confuse people…well tell me if im wrong, but even though songs are 99cents each dont they have a range of prices if you are purchasing a whole album? Why would this be any different?
No! That’s the worst news I’ve ever heard. What will I do if I can’t come home after a long, horrible day of work and not have my office waiting for me? This is egregious!
NBC is just showing arrogance. If it weren’t for iTunes, The Office wouldn’t be as popular as it is.
From FoxNews.com:
“NBC Universal-controlled television programming accounts for an estimated 40 percent of the video downloads on iTunes”
“NBC Universal also wants iTunes to stiffen anti-piracy provisions so computer users would not have easy access to illegal downloads.”
Bad idea. Bad. Bad bad.
I like how I was discussing my need for itunes office episodes last night in the chat room, and this is the joyous news that greets me today.
Irony bites.
Just means more people will turn to illegal torrents. NBC are going to regret it. Just as they should reconsider how they don’t make the show accessible to us brits who want to see more than just season one.
F! NBC if it’s true about the $4.99. WTF is wrong with these guys. I mean this totally saved their show and a lot of us diehard Office fans rely on Itunes. I am not a happy camper………grrrrrrr!
$4.99 an episode is a ridiculous price. Especially when the Season is only $29.99 when it comes out on DVD. The only reason why I was downloading episodes at all from iTunes is because I knew it was only $1.99. That didn’t seem like too much to pay even though I knew I would buy the DVD. If they think they are going to charge that kind of money for each episode they can forget it from me, buddy.
And you know what else? I don’t WANT my programs bundled so THEY can increase revenues. NBC is evil.
Huge Grrr!
All this is going to do is increase the pirating.
Its gone folks. Apple just announced their not going to sell NBC shows. NBC wanted to raise the price of an episode to $4.99.
Link
I guess this means no more random Apple product placement on the office.
this is egregious.
@ #44 the*hot*girl
“I guess this means no more random Apple product placement on the office.”
Apple does not do product placement, or at least does not talk about it publicly. If you’ll notice, all other companies in movies and tv shows etc. are credited with “promotional consideration” at the end of credits. Apple is never credited. Their products, most of the time, are just so cool that people wish to include them.
I wonder if both parties looked up negotiating tactics on wikipedia? Who declined to speak first?
The only downloads I have ever paid for on i-tunes were Office episodes. If it weren’t for i-tunes I would have missed both Beach Games and The Job. This makes me a little sad.
NOOOO!!
I can’t believe this… I don’t have time to watch it at home because I have 3 little kids that I have to tuck in bed. I guess I’ll set my VCR to tape it, but I hate taping shows to VHS. It was so convenient for me to watch this with Itunes.
NBC probably wants $5 now since they have many hour-long episodes, and the show is hugely successful.
Let’s all see how we can make more money and screw the fans of the show at the same time.
I love having The Office on my ipod…have all 3 seasons on it. This really sucks but 4.99 is way too much to pay.
Like Cayce80 and lemonade, I watch episodes of The Office via my iPod during lunch everyday. This would seriously suck. Hopefully, this is just a negotiating tactic. If not, when this hulu crap fails (which is 90% sure to), you know NBC will be crawling back to Apple.
This would be a horrendous blunder for NBC, because The Office on iTunes is a true money-maker for all parties.
47 | Mgkwho
Apple employee? ;)
Does this mean NBC will post the episodes online after they air like they’ve done with some of their other shows?
This is horrible news! For the last two years, I’ve consistently had classes on Thursday nights (I’m a night student). I was bummed enough when The Office was moved to Thursday in the first place, but I’ve been a loyal buyer of the episodes on iTunes for the last two years (even got the season pass for s3). Now I’m back to relying on my old, decrepit VCR and my bad TV connection. Ugh!
NBC really loves to make poor decisions, don’t they? This is right up there with renewing The Apprentice and hiring Isaiah Washington. It’s a triple threat of BAD IDEAS.
I’m kind of glad I requested an invite to Hulu now.
[from tanster: 200 word limit, please. thanks!]
This is bad bad bad bad bad bad bad bad news.
This bites. True, NBC is on top of the game right now as far as american network TV, but it is sad to think that they are so pig-headed that they are willing to play a game of chicken with Apple. Frankly I’m glad Apple didn’t give in.
Does anyone know who we can e-mail at NBC? I think we need to flood them with angry e-mails!
I was so happy this week because of the awesome promo, now this news has completely ruined it.
are you KIDDING ME?!? I live by having the episodes on my iPod. now re-runs will actually mean something to me?!?
“Does this mean NBC will post the episodes online after they air like they’ve done with some of their other shows?”
Possibly, but I think they know there’s money to be made so they’ll run that well til it’s dry.
This is such a bad move on NBC’s part that I can’t see them going through with it. There is still time before season 3 airs!
Or maybe I am just in serious denial, seeing that I have no other way to watch it.
And, the articles said that one of the underlying motivations was to “fight piracy” – how does not letting the episodes be sold on line legally help that in ANY WAY? Seems to me that it would do the reverse…
Everyone should check into DVR. With my Time Warner cable it only cost me an extra $10 a month, which I found was worth it! Especially if I can’t make it to watch the office.
Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple, is a self-proclaimed “HUGE fan” of The Office, so maybe you shouldn’t be so greedy NBC, when I’m sure Apple wants your shows on itunes since they make up a large share of their sales, and you guys get additional profits and exposure as a result. As people veer from watching TV they are turning to ipods to watch their shows (see comments from others on these pages as proof) and if your not available to watch, no one will watch and intrest will wane, and I want my favorite show to last for more seasons.
OK, I just moved back to the U.S. in June, after three years in Indonesia. If I were still living there, I would be flipping out right now! iTunes was the only reliable way for me to get episodes as soon as they came out. Thank goodness I can just watch them or Tivo them now. :) Still, bad decision on NBC’s part, I think.
They can’t do this to us! 5 bucks is way to much to pay for an episode but this is just sooo wrong!!!!
…I just got rid of my TV and have been enjoying life without it. My only show I watch is the Office, but I said to myself, “Hey, I can download them on iTunes.” Damn…
47 | Mgkwho
oh, i know, i wasn’t meaning that apple was paying them to use apple products on the show.
I was just saying that I’m guessing there won’t be any more special appearances by the infamous Ipod or other apple products.
62 – Jason
Does this Handbrake program work well? Because I bought some Roxio software to put some of my dvd shows on my ipod and it didn’t work. So I’m leary of these programs.
If anyone has Tivo, you can download Tivo Desktop to you PC and upgrade to Tivo Plus. This allow you to transfer The Office from your playlist on Tivo to you computer and Tivo Desktop will convert to MP4.
I have Zune (Microsfts version of Ipod) and it doesn’t work with ITunes, but I have been able to watch the office on my Zune for the past couple weeks!
I now watch The Office at work for free!
What am I supposed to do now when I have to miss an episode? I usually buy a couple of episodes either because I missed them or because I can’t wait until the fall to rewatch them. I don’t have a credit card, so iTunes works well because I can buy the gift cards, but that Hulu thing probably won’t work for me.
NBC is going to lose a lot of money and publicity. The Office’s top ranking on iTunes probably brings in a lot of new viewers. It got me hooked, and a lot of my friends are fans because of me.
I’m going to call the Ungrateful Beyotch Hotline at NBC, anyone know the number or email address?
This is such a bunch of crap! I download both The Office and 30 Rock’s episodes! Plus, NBC gets another chunk of money out of me when I buy the season DVDs (because I cannot live without special features).
If NBC is going to do this, then they better post full-length episodes of The Office on their website, like they do for their other shows. I refuse to wait until a year from now for the DVD so I can re-watch Season 4 episodes
this sucks! i live for my office episodes on my ipod. i watch them at work and between classes. on the bus, on the train. this completely ruins my routine. i suppose i better break down and get a dvr. double GRRRRRRRRRRRR! NBC, you have made an enemy.
wow, i’m very disappointed in NBC. i, too, watch the office while working… it gets me going during the work day! plus, i just got a $50 gift card for itunes to specifically buy the upcoming season. what i’m i suppose to get now? *sigh*
Sorry for the second post so fast, but isn’t one of the reasons The Office was kept on the air is because it performs so well at the iTunes store? I am SO sick of networks who get great quality shows and then leave them out to dry. If a network charges $1.99 an episode for a TV show, and let’s say there at least 20 episodes in a season, they are grossing AT LEAST 40 bucks a season, per person (And that’s more than Amazon charges for a season DVD). And I know iTunes gets a cut of that, but NBC isn’t paying for the packaging and distribution of DVDs. Digital downloads are significantly cheaper. Also, people who are casual watchers may buy an episode here and there, whereas they normally wouldn’t buy an entire DVD.
this sucks!!! i feel like we need to do something about it, probably cant change anything but this is just terrible!
I know a lot of people are upset about this, but… Anyone ever hear of VHS tapes?? If you want to watch episodes over & over or have to miss them, all you gotta do is tape it on a VHS tape & watch them all you want! That may be like DVR’s, but all I know is I still have my good ol’ VCR and it helps a LOT!
NBC! This is a SERIOUSLY bad move!
I don’t have a tv, so itunes was the only way I could watch the office regularly an honestly! Now I’ve got to find some way to watch the episodes illegally online!
Damn it, NBC!!!
P.S. I also wonder if John Krasinski is going to do anymore Apple commercials…
Wow, I think this is actually going to hurt The Office.
I’ve been loyal to you, NBC. You’ve made lots of money off me – from iTunes to DVDs to the four boxes of Office Valentine’s Day cards I bought at Target. Clearly, I have money to spend and no life! iTunes was part of my Office-watching ritual.
I love this show and I will continue to watch. But if you think that I’m going to pay anywhere near $5 PER EPISODE on any website, think again. That’s ridiculous. DVDs with all the extra features don’t even cost that much (22 episodes x $5).
NBC – you had a sweet deal. Fans were buying access to a show that’s 1) free on television and 2) they could only watch on their computers and iPods. Way to screw it up.
You would’ve made so much money off me this year. But for $4.99 a pop, I’ll just go watch it on YouTube or something.
hmmm….there is one message that i can glean from this: nbc secretly wants piracy to skyrocket.
This is just so greedy. The Office costs NBC about 1/20th of the production value of Heroes or Deal or No Deal. It also gets about half the promotion. Yet, NBC is so freakin’ greedy that they want to charge even more per episode for a show that very few people in the NBC higher-ups actually support. For a lot of those execs, they would probably prefer to replace The Office for some crappy reality show about 10 annoying people who live in a house and try to run a car wash or something.
WOAH. Breathe, people. Breathe.
I know you’d have to wait until next September for season 4, but you can port the episodes from the DVD onto iTunes if you know what you’re doing. Link: HandBrake (application).
Maybe NBC thinks that we won’t buy the DVD if we can get them on iTunes. Personally, I love being able to download the episodes after they air… I watch them over and over and over again until the next week. It feeds my obsession. And I know that most people who are obsessive enough to buy them all on iTunes are going to buy the DVD just for the special features and the commentaries. Bad move, NBC. Bad move.
Well, Office fans have effected what NBC has done before. Just like we wanted a supersized finale, we want our Office on iTunes. I think a petition is in order. We could stick the link in the iTunes reviews area for the Office to get others to see it.
I think OfficeTally (being the best Office fansite) should take the initiative.
SAR said: (this sucks!!! i feel like we need to do something about it, probably cant change anything but this is just terrible! )
———————————————
Hey I totally agree with you, I think we should do something about this, you’d be surprised how a lot of voices to a network can cause a stir. I say we go for it! Tanster can you help us organize a method to reach NBC? I might be thinking crazy, but this really bugs me and no one wants our show affected.
Who’s in???
-sarah (officeisms)
I just wrote NBC and e-mail, we all need to let them know that there is a huge following of not only The Office, but other NBC programming as well.
This site is one of the best fan sites of any show on television; let’s all let our voices be heard!
Now when I miss an episode I can’t watch it! :(
Yes, we need to do something. I haven’t read everyone’s posts so I don’t know if it has already been mentioned, but the fans can make a difference – just look at what happened with Jericho (link below), and we are hard core. This is the place to start. Let’s organize something to let NBC know we are not happy. We want The Office on iTunes. I would never have started watching the US version if not for iTunes. Why in the world would they think that not making it easy to legally buy the episodes would prevent piracy? So backward…
Tanster, please help us help iTunes keep the Office! What should we do?
http://www.nutsonline.com/jericho
Hooray for Apple for not taking advantage of The Office fans! I agree with Callan. This is pure greed. NBC is just trying to capitalize on the growing popularity of its TV show. Apple took a stand and rejected the money it could make so that it could keep its prices at $1.99. Shame on NBC. I’ll get my episodes at the end of the year when the DVD comes out before I pay $5 for one.
I don’t buy shows on iTunes because I think its a ripoff, I made my PC into a DVR.
But I’d sign a petition because I think this will hurt The Office as a hole. I know at least 5 people who watch it only from iTunes. There will be more like that out there.
I wanted to echo some other folks’ comments that we should start a movement here, it is a fact that some Office people look at this site and I would assume NBC suits do as well. If anyone can change something it is us.
Even though I watch the office when broadcasted and record onto my DVR I also bought all episodes on itunes enjoying them over and over when a tv isn’t around. This totally sucks. How about including deleted scenes for 4.99?
I’d sign a petition in a heartbeat if someone can get one started. By the way, i rarely comment on this site, but i’m always reading everything. To me, this topic is very important – enough for me to get involved and maybe there are others lurkers out there who feel the same way. When I was working overseas for 2 years, Itunes was the only way for me to continue watching The Office. They gotta keep that distribution channel open.
I am not happy about this. I have a very irregular schedule and no DVR so I was more than happy to shell out twice (iTunes and DVD) for the show. I hope NBC has them streaming online after they air.
Boo NBC. Corporate greed sucks
I’m guessing this is all a ploy, and the episodes will be back, eventually, but probably at a higher price (though not at $5–seriously, that’s ridiculous). Maybe $2.99 each. I think NBC has the majority of the most downloaded shows.
Oh wow. Ya know, I never thought I’d say this, but I’m on Apple’s side with this one. I mean, 4.99 per episode? Why do that when I can just tape it? I mean, along with Gas prices and milk prices, now I have to worry about Office prices? No thank you. Bad move NBC, bad move.
Well… there goes my plan. I just moved up to San Francisco where I do not have cable or an antenna – and would be overruled by Grey’s Anatomy fans if I did. I was counting on subscribing to The Office on iTunes so that I could keep watching. Now I’ll have to get my family to tape the episodes for me so that I can watch them when I come home. I love Conan and I love The Office… but now I officially hate NBC.
i was also one of those who started watching the office thanks to itunes a bit into the second season…and now i consider myself a HUGE fan. i have even given my laptop to my friends so that they could catch up with the show off of my itunes before the DVDs were released.
BAD BAD BAD MOVE NBC!!!!!!!!
This is ridiculous. The reason the show is even still on the air is because it sold so well for NBC on iTunes.
Callan is right on. What NBC and some of the other music companies are doing is just purely motivated by wanting to cash in more on the rising popularity of iTunes downloads. Charging $4.99 per episode is simply ludicrous. I hope NBC thinks long and hard about its decision to pull out of iTunes. Sure, NBC might be setting up its own downloads site, but it won’t match the established brand and “cool” factor that Apple can bring with iTunes/iPod/iPhone/iWhatever. I’m not even that big of an Apple fan myself, but iTunes undeniably had a huge part in saving “The Office”, as so many other posters have rightly stated. Don’t kill the goose that lays the golden egg, NBC.
One more voice to the crowd: It’s tough on me, but I appreciate Apple taking this stance. Shame on NBC. Downloading episodes was just a dream last season, and this season my work schedule has changed, so I was counting on it.
NBC is shooting themselves in the foot on this one! Hopefully they’ll reconsider.
Handbrake works fairly well. I put a couple of Remmington Steele eps from my DVDs onto my iPod with it. The only thing it wasn’t able to convert well was a show from a homemade DVD (featuring eps taped on VHS in the 1980s). The video was there, but the audio wasn’t. But for professionally generated DVDs, Handbrake has delivered for me so far.
Does anyone know what kind of format hulu.com will use?
Crap!! That really stinks, I recently moved to Honduras for a job and that was how I was going to see the show!!! Stupid NBC :-(
officeisms1978, yes thank you!
I’m in!!! Lets fight this! pleaseeeee :/
Don’t freak out yet, guys. Wait to see how this all plays out…
NBC is trying to take control over our freedom to access any Office episode on demand. They have this new site they’ve been building with other big media companies called hulu.com that is a faux YouTube. I seriously doubt any NBC site will allow you to see any Office episode, but simply just the ones the NBC suits want to provide for that week. And starting their own download site is out of the question because there is no way for them to get a show to the iPod unless they removed DRM. They’re too greedy for that.
I followed your lead Alex (104). I tried to stay somewhat civil.
“How are you going to try and charge 4.99 an episode for your programs when everyone has grown accustomed to 1.99? And now you’d rather just not allow us to download them, therefore making no money on sales? Itunes helped save The Office and it has now become a hit, and is growing larger by the day, and you decide to pull your programming off of Itunes? I probably bought 10 or 12 episodes last year which made you around 25 or so bucks, which isnt much to a greedy company like NBC, but it adds up. You will not be getting any money from me in the future with actions like this.”
#111
Unless they offer TV shows on there website for free at a quality equal to iTunes that we can download, people have every reason to freak out.
Wow. Bad, bad move NBC. We should all remind NBC that if it wasn’t for iTunes, The Office most likely wouldn’t even be the hit it is today.
Ummm, so how am I going to watch the Office every single night of my life as I fall asleep? Unless NBC is offering personal live performances, I have an issue with this decision.
Kevin… whoohooo! I love it. I’m so going to write them as soon as I leave work and can think clearly about what to write. Watch out NBC here we come.
As for the comment about freaking out, we have every right, take a look at that Itunes press release, it’s very clear. Today is actually officially the last day anyone can download The Office on Itunes, so take advantage if you still want some classic episodes for your ipod. As of September… no more!
THIS SUCKS! I loved buying the office on there ): i would always watch it on planes on stuff when i got scared. so sad ):
http://www.nbc.com/Footer/Contact_Us/
Scroll to this part:
“Questions not found on FAQ page about NBC Entertainment programming? Email us using the pulldown menu below:”
Go to “The Office.” Then let your rage-o-hol kick in.
Yeah, we should be angry at NBC, not Apple. $5 an episode? That is insanity.
Just sent to NBC:
“I would never have started watching The Office if not for iTunes, and now I buy many of your shows there – Earl, 30 Rock. You have so many fans who want to legally obtain your shows and watch them on the devices we love (iPod, Mac, Apple TV). Don’t take that away from us or raise the price so that it no longer makes sense to pay for something we can Tivo and copy to our PCs for free.
Listen to your fans and leave things alone. Check out https://www.officetally.com if you want to see just a sampling of fans upset by this decision.
Thank you for your time.”
Let’s keep sending them until someone starts a petition or we come up with a plan.
Complaint to NBC: sent
My iPod is in tears with all this news…The Office is its heroin…and it needs its fix!
I’m so angry about this I don’tknow if I should scream of cry. I have already sent NBC two emails with the words “No more Itunes? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?” in the subject line.
Hopefully that got their attention! ;)
I just sent an email to NBC, and I’m glad to see so many other fans have too. Its completely foolish of them to screw up their relationship with Apple when they used The Office in their introduction of the iphone. Hopefully they’ll listen to all of us and fix this before the 27th!
what would people say the chances are this gets fixed ever?
A friend of mine said that NBC will probably keep it at $1.99 and include commercials. That way they’ll make the money they want and iTunes doesn’t have to raise the price. There’s too much money to lose for NBC, it would be a ridiculous move. No other online store sells as many shows as iTunes, infact recently SONY announced they were shutting down their store, which was supposed to compete with iTunes. Hopefullly NBC will relent.
In the letters, don’t just focus on The Office, there were other TV shows from NBC that were on iTunes. I think the mores shows we talk about, the better.
I’d bet 80% NBC realizes their stupidity and gets back with itunes. New NBC president Ben Silverman must know that itunes has played a major part in helping NBC shows, since he helped bring us the Office here. But, I hoping that some other “genius” at NBC made this blunder and now that it has come to Silverman’s attention he’ll fix the HUGE BLUNDER before all the new seasons start.
The Office dominates itunes downloads and has resulted in fans downloading and getting interested in other NBC shows. How can NBC do this when they were the first network to realize the advantages of itunes by being the first to start offering their shows on there?
If NBC doesn’t get back with itunes before the new season starts I will not watch/boycott any of their new programming, a lot of which looked interesting.
Let’s get that petition going.
Dear NBC,
If you planning on charging me $150.00 to download a whole season of The Office, it better come with a free DVD set hand delivered by John Krasinski.
Can anyone say:”Killing the Goose who laid the Golden Eggs”?
Didn’t NBC start out by asking for an exorbitant amount of money for episodes for syndication?
Isn’t Dunder Mifflin moving the company into the computer age?
Isn’t that why they hired the virgin from Scranton with the Master’s degree?
WTF is right.
I seriously cannot believe this. I had to read the heading twice to make sure I read this right! Why does NBC have to be so greedy? I mean, yes – it’s business and such but do they not care about The Office, it’s fanbase or any other one of their shows to allow episodes to be sold on iTunes? It’s utterly ridiculous. I have always bought the episodes off iTunes, the DVDs, AND watched the original broadcast. This just sucks. Booo NBC. No more Heroes either? =[
I guess NBC wants people to start watching there shows illegally or something now.
Kudos, #113 (Kevin) and #116 (Officeisms1978)! I can’t remember exactly what I said, but it was along the lines of “thanks for treating your fans this way, this is a slap in the face to those who saved the Office on iTunes,” etc., and pointing out that EVERY WEEK there were at least two (occasionally three) episodes in the top 10, usually with the current week’s episode at #1. And once again thanking them for slapping us in the face.
If you’re writing on NBC’s website, it might do better to click on Other, instead of scrolling to The Office or another specific show, because I think those letters might go to the people making the show and not necessarily to network people. If you click on Other, you can give your letter a specific title (I just titled mine “iTunes”).
FYI Sara #118–I love that you watch episodes when you’re scared on planes. The Office is like comfort food–like macaroni and cheese, like mashed potatoes. It makes me happy.
Re 129 Office Fan: Totally agreed. For that much money, Krasinski and Lieberstein should be hosting Office screening parties in my living room.
Just sent a letter.
I really hope they reconsider.
Ummmm…NBC, did you get into the stupid pills again? I have Tivo, and keep every episode of The Office on Tivo until that season comes out on DVD, and even I have bought episodes off of iTunes.
I am throwing my money at you, NBC. Why do you not want it?
I just want to correct something. This isn’t “corporate greed.”
After all, $1.99 is an inflated price, too. Anything over the cost of production and distribution is inflated. We all accept that companies charge us inflated prices to make a profit and that’s not intrinsically greedy. Profit is why these companies exist. They’re not around to give us goodies out of the kindness of their hearts, just like none of us go to work every day for free out of the kindness of ours.
That being said, the real issue is that the price (22 to 23 episodes x $5) just doesn’t correlate with its real market value. My complaint isn’t that NBC has the audacity to raise the price or change the medium. My issue is with the price itself. I also think it’s foolish to abandon iTunes now since so many people access the show that way.
I assume the $4.99 on NBC’s part was just a ploy to give hulu the edge with the better price. If hulu and iTunes sold the shows for the same amount, everybody would keep using iTunes. It doesn’t hurt NBC that hulu will have exclusivity now.
Good for itunes! This is extortion! $5 an episode? Frankly, it sound like they may do something like ABC, where you can watch shows on their website, they get the product endorsements and the DVD money. Money is always the bottom line…
Apple or someone should start an internet petition like the one for the season 2 finale to be supersized.
they say that itunes saved the Office from being canceled after the first season. and this is how NBC repays Apple. this is very disheartening
You’ve got to be kidding me!! I just had a long day at work and I come home to this news :( They are making a HUGE mistake with this.
How can we do a petition? Just e-mail one person who will forward it, or what?
NBC is going to have to make an apology video for their huge iTunes boner.
Whoa people! Simma down naah! Video ipods didn’t even exist a couple of years ago and now everyone’s in an uproar because they won’t be able to watch the show on their little 2 inch screens. We’ll all have it on DVD so the world’s not coming to an end. Take a chill pill and read a book or something. But to be honest, this does suck a little bit but not enough to go crazy. There’s other things to be concerned about… like should I buy season 4 at Target or Best Buy? LOL
You know, that reminds me…NBC just announced the other day that Conan O’Brien’s page on NBC is having his shows posted on that site, so yeah, this could happen to The Office as well!
This is moronic.
Unshun, I think it’s a bigger problem for people who watch the show solely on iTunes. (I buy them there and watch on my computer, not an iPod.) I share a TV with around 30 other people and am often busy at the time it airs anyway, so seeing it on TV and recording it are out of the question 90% of the time. iTunes let me legally watch The Office without much of a time delay, save a file of each episode so that I didn’t always have to be on the internet, and watch each episode however many times I wanted indefinitely. If I have to pay 2.5 times as much or at worst wait until the DVD next September to see some episodes, it would be a big disappointment for me.
Well the list price for season 3 on dvd is $50, and $50/ 23 episodes = $2.17 per episode on DVD. Now lets not forget the fact that iTunes movies are in less than DVD quality, and $5.00 an episode is outrageous. This is insane.
We should try and get fans of other NBC shows to write letters/ sign a petition. NBC is more likely to listen if it’s people who watch a bunch of different shows, rather than just The Office.
Wow, I have the worst, most depressing week of my entire life, and I am seriously at the end of my string here, and then i read this. I think i’m gonna go jump off a bridge now. As I am in my first week of college here, I have a tv, but no vcr. I have no friends and am lonely beyond belief. The thing that keeps me going is the office. I watch it on my ipod all the time, and read officetally religiously. If i cnt repeatedly watch the season premere, i think i might pack it in and head home!
The Office is now listed at hulu.com, and programming offerings will begin in Oct. through Yahoo! and other providers. Apparently though, NBC’s contract with iTunes doesn’t expire until December. Plenty of time for hulu to get up and running. Check out this article;
http://www.marketingpilgrim.com/2007/08/nbc-ditches-itunes.html
I just realized something. International Office fans (such as our friends in Australia) wouldn’t have even seen season 3 yet if it weren’tfor iTunes, how will they live until season 4 comes out on DVD?
Awww, Christina–I’m a senior in college and have TOTALLY been where you were…When I found out “Alias” was going to start in January my freshman year, I was utterly depressed. But for now, seize the OfficeTally tidbits and YouTube, YouTube, YouTube! It’ll all get better and less painful, I swear!
Christina (#149), hang in there! I broke up with my long term bf yesterday, so I think we both could use some quality JKras! Does NBC do streaming video? And watch it on your TV with the door open, people will come visit! I promise. Especially since Grey’s is lousy now. Good luck, girl!!
So is this Hulu going to be a free, on-demand sort of thing which will enable people to watch NBC content at anytime? I’m fine with that. I’m not so keen on watching the episodes on my iPod (though it was funny an office clip was used to show the iPhone video capabilities…) as long as I can watch the new first run episodes shortly after they air, somewhere. I’d prefer not to pay and have advertisements, really.
the thing i dont think is fair is, without the gifts in the box sets, the box set costs between 30-40 dollars depending on where u get it. Now if you used any price in between those two amounts for the upcoming season order of 30 episodes (5 hour long, 25 regular) you are pretty much paying a little over a dollar to watch the episodes plus you get deleted scenes, commentaries and other stuff sometimes (webisodes last year) To charge 5 dollars would cost 150$ to purchase an entire season. Why can’t they just sell the entire season for the box set price?
Because they don’t want to sell on iTunes at all. NBC wants to get into the online content business. They ultimately want to compete with YouTube and iTunes.
So, any news?
Yuck yuck yuck yuck. It’s sad, but I love watching The Office on my video iPod. I’m a student and I have to have this on all the time. Even in the library studying, I listen to it, it’s like background music to me. I even fall asleep to it. I know it’s weird, but true!!! Very disappointed in this news.
Does anyone know if this includes Bravo shows? We don’t get Bravo and I depend on this for Project Runway and Top Chef.
Amy –
I read somewhere (can’t remember where) that all NBC affiliated networks are effected by this decision, Bravo included. I’m a huge Project Runway fan so today’s news is a double whammy.
hang in there, Christina. Its only the first week, it takes time to get used to college, no need jumping off a bridge after one bad WEEK! As for the Office, according to Yahoo!’s article:
“Apple said it has decided not to offer shows for download from NBC’s upcoming season beginning in September, including such popular series as “Heroes.” NBC also disputed this and said its new shows would be available through the duration of the contract, which expires at the end of December.”
so maybe we WILL at least be able to get the beginning of the seasons on iTunes before the contract expires in Dec? Altho I dunno how NBC can challenge that since Apple is the one who determines what shows are offered on their software and if they say NBC shows will be gone, I think that means they’ll be gone.
Good question about the Bravo shows, though! I have no idea!!
i dont think that NBC can possibly believe that starting their own site to charge 5 dollars could possibly compete with 1.99 at iTunes
ACK!! What am I going to do now waiting for my shuttle to school!? I am going to have to start staring off to space and watching the pigeons like everyone else. I felt so empowered watching new episodes on my ipod Friday afternoon. I wonder if I can take back my signup to hula… (i am so sure that would stick it to NBC!) I feel so powerless
Bah…the iTunes store here in Canada didn’t sell OFFICE episodes, anyhow.
What?!?!? That really sucks! I live in Australia so the new episodes don’t air here so i get them off iTunes!
This is the worstest [I know worstest isn’t a real word…] day ever!
Complaint just sent to NBC.
I don’t understand why NBC thinks people would pay $4.99 for their shows over any other network’s for $1.99. I love The Office, but I wouldn’t pay that much money to see them again.
Christina, I’m a junior in college and I felt the same way my first few weeks at college. I promise you that you *will* make friends in your classes, but it takes awhile, so just hang in there. Join clubs to meet people with similar interests and don’t watch The Office in your room, you will meet all kinds of people watching it in a common room. You can talk to the other people there during the commercials and they will all be cool people because they are watching the Office, of course! Hang in there :-)
Christina – take heart! I am also at college for the first time too. It’s scary, isn’t it? But I think we’ll pull through.
We registered for classes today and without realizing it I registered for a film studies class that has a lab every Thursday from 7:00 to 9:30!! (And that’s the only available class!)
I haven’t quite figured out what I’m going to do about that yet, because I need my office fix…
“I guess this means no more random Apple product placement on the office.
44 | *the*hot*girl Fri. Aug. 31, 2007 at 10:24am”
THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!
I have no TV access, unless I go out of my way, so I’ll be pirating that. Oh wait, P2P programs are slowed on my network to a crawl. Stupid college. So I guess I’ll wait for the Season Four DVD.
I’d honestly be more pissed…IF iTunes had a store in South-East Asia in the first place.
This is some major bad news! I watch The Office on iTunes because of my schedule!! I actually never watched it on tv and half way through the 2nd season, I downloaded one episode and became hooked!
NBC…please reconsider renewing the contract and maintaining Apple’s 1.99 price! The Office was always #1 on iTunes!!
maybe nbc will make more things available on their website, like episode recaps or something? the rumors are that they’re going to have more content on the internet, so here’s hoping :(
This sucks. The only shows I have on my ipod are The Office and Friends. Now I’m gonna wear out the episodes I have and just wish I could have more! This really sucks.
I’m so glad I bought a Prism DuroSport and not an Ipod. I still get The Office only it’s in black and white, and dubbed in Russian.;)
I think we need to convince NBC otherwise.
I think Apple will take them back if they want to renew the contract.
We need to show NBC they are making a huge mistake.
Any ideas?
This just hurts. . . I’m not sure if I’m more angry or frustrated. I work evenings and will now have to wait a whole year to get the DVD. NBC you just took a small bit of pleasure that got me through the work week.
It’s called TiVo, Michael D. I highly recommend it. They have an HD version coming out this fall; GET IT, boyee! = )
this really sucks for those of us that work nights. i bought every episode that i had to miss. so glad i have DVR now… it’s cheaper in the long run.. but still, boo NBC..
This is horrible… I have practice until 9 on thursdays… gonna miss most of the episodes!
Here is a petition I started
Everybody who is upset about this should sign!
f a petition worked to get Jericho back on tv, then a petition might help to show NBC that it could possibly lose numbers if the itunes option is taken away since people are busy. I do suggest it be sent to whoever made that deal. LAME
#69 “Does this Handbrake program work well? Because I bought some Roxio software to put some of my dvd shows on my ipod and it didn’t work. So I’m leary of these programs.”
On some DVDs it doesn’t for some reason, but i have had good experience with uploading videos from the office DVDs.
I am so upset that I almost broke the Office Tally comment policy by posting in all caps.
All three seasons of The Office are constantly in the top ten for all tv seasons, and 20 episodes from last season are in the top 100 episodes.
I understand why NBC was asking for more money, but the same people who buy the episodes from the store most likely are still going to buy the dvd set when it comes out on Tuesday, so it evens out anyways.
NBC will realize their mistake soon enough.
Nooooooo!!!!! I’m going to be intern-ing in Brazil until December, and I was counting on iTunes to help me keep my sanity. No Office, no Scrubs, no 30Rock . . . what am I going to do? Hopefully something changes, or else I’m going to be pretty sad.
Wise up, folks. This is mostly the fault of Apple, who has overestimated their control of digital media distribution, and at a bad time, no less. They may have dominant e-control over music sales (and rising general music distribution sales), they have nothing even close to the same influence vis-a-vis video.
Thus, Apple is aiming to control the video sales in the same way they are controlling music sales, but with no practical leverage. They will lose this battle, and HULU (or another site) will win for now, ultimately leaving Apple for the worse, especially considering that their new market of handhelds (iPods & iPhone) will be video-centric.
We’re like that Dixie Chick song right now…”We’re mad as HELL and we don’t have time to go round and round and round…” Us Office fans aren’t ready to make nice with NBC! BOOO.
My blood is still boiling over this. PLEASE come up with a reasonable deal NBC and iTunes! Do it for the fans…please. =[
@Dementia AL
I disagree. Completely. Apple is not trying to gain total control over the video distribution industry, and they don’t have full control over the music industry either. Universal is not renewing its contract with Apple, but they continue to keep their music on the store. Because it makes money.
Apple just likes to keep things simple, and that didn’t fly with NBC. Apple wanted to keep a consistant price for each video in the store, just like every song costs $0.99. NBC wanted to complicate Apple’s iTunes structure, and they wouldn’t let it happen.
Personally, I would rather see NBC shows off iTunes, than have them cost $5 and be bundled with other shows that I would have to buy.
My 2 cents.
I completely agree with Dementia Al in post 191. I refuse to get anything Apple because of the way they’re taking everything over. Get a Creative media player, they were the first anyway.
Besides, there are plenty of other ways to get the shows. And you can still buy the DVDs when they come out. And I’m sure that in light of this, NBC will come out with something on their website. No big deal.
Just to let you know, a petition only works if everyone mails in their own statements (even if the same). A letter counts a lot toward a company’s view since it shows a lot of effort on the person sending it.
I used to work for a local NBC affiliate and this was explained to me by many people. This is also why the Jericho petition worked, because they sent stuff to CBS.
If you’d like to get the shows back on iTunes, everyone just needs to write to NBC.
I completely disagree with Dementia Al in post 191. If Apple is trying to take over video distribution, they have a long way to go…You realize it is not just NBC right? It is NBC Universal…Ya, Universal the largest record label, one of the largest video/movie distributors, etc. Universal wants to do to iTunes what they have done to cable providors, which is in order to get the good shows (or networks) you have to take the crappy shows (and networks). That is why cable is $60+ a month with 80+ channels that no one watches. I would rather pay the $1.99 per a single The Office episode, instead of having to spend $4.99 to get a single The Office episode, because it is in an “attractive package” with some other crappy NBC show…UNiversal wants you to subsidize the crappy shows…Do you really think HULU.com is going to offer $1.99 per episode shows?…and they will probably be streaming only. Universal has sour grapes because they are leaving money in your wallet with iTunes…
This is really sad since I live overseas and can’t watch the broadcasts! DAMNIT!
Well, we still have shows till December according to that one article, and by then they’ll definitely work it out.
It was announced today that NBC signed an agreement with Amazon.com for selling digital downloads of their shows. If you go to http://www.unbox.com you can already find The Office epsiodes listed.
Just a quick follow on my last note… As I stated, Amazon.com’s Unbox service is the new exclusive home of NBC digital downloads… For those of you who purchase the whole season, Amazon is offering a discount when you pre-purchase the full season. Also TiVo Series 2 owners can download these episodes directly from Amazon using the TV download feature. Lastly, in a “sticking it to Apple” moment, Unbox does not support the Mac…
Here’s the news article about the NBC and Amazon partnership…
And here is the official press release
so on amazon they are still only 1.99. whats the point of leaving itunes. They are only alienating fans, not sticking it to apple.
Does anyone know if you can play
Amazon Unbox files on the itunes & video Ipods?
Unbox has a far more restrictive DRM policy (you can only put episodes on two computers, not five, and on fewer portable devices). Plus, you can’t use content from two accounts on the same computer (unlike iTunes). So, this clearly must be part of NBC/U’s gripes that Apple’s DRM was too liberal.
This is a bad dead, and a bad service.
Unbox also doesn’t work on the Mac, and doesn’t even support some Windows-based devices (like the Zune).
I am a Mac user. Unbox sucks.
I hate you, NBC.
that1guypictures – iTunes uses proprietary software, so I am pretty sure that Amazon Unbox won’t play on iTunes or iPods.
The Office was the highest downloaded program on iTunes during the season. In one given week, you’d have two or three episodes in the top ten. Why? Because Apple made the show affordable to download, easy to access amd easily available. $4.99 with bundled shows on Hulu or Amazon? And it only supports MS when the iPod is the majority device consumers use? No thank you. I think that Jeff Zucker and his staff are only thinking of the bottom line and not the consumers and viewers. Either they make it less money and compatible with more devices, or they can forget it.
Amazon Unbox actually will work with my portable player (Zen Vision M), but has anyone here used it before? Not sure if I’ll ever end up using the service. Amazon had already been offering downloads of The Office before today – not sure when they started but I do know it was before the announcement that NBC did not renew its contract with iTunes.
Well, I just had DVR installed, so now I’m just paying my cable company… I have all last season on itunes, and I would have stuck with it, but I didn’t want to take that chance. I called the cable company as soon as I read that announcement. I think if they really do remove the Office from itunes it is an incredibly stupid move.
Can we have a campaign to send NBC Universal apples in the mail (a la Jericho fans and the peanuts)? Or some apple-based product that won’t rot?
Wow! First hey don’t want to deal with iTunes, now they alienate all of us “lowly” Mac users.
Sigh. Back to the decrepit VCR.
Boo, NBC! Why can’t we all just get along?!
I only have a Mac, so I guess it’s the Season 4 DVD and TiVo. You just lost $140 NBC!
I was planning on buying the full iTunes subscription seasons of Scrubs, 30 Rock, The Office and Heroes, but I guess now now.
I just did a quick test with a free download over on the Amazon Unbox software. They come in as .wmv files and they are coded so that a video converter I downloaded for my IPod won’t convert them.
Now they have these absolutely AMAZING new iPods with lots of extra space. Since there is no more Office on iTunes, I will have to find something else to fill up the space.
Wow….this really sucks! I have a mac, and I pretty much watch everything on it, I only watched about 3 episodes of season 3 on my T.V. I guess I’m going to have to figure out my VCR again, if it still works. This seems like something that will backfire, I bet by December it will be back on itunes. Maybe it will be one of the shows you can watch on the NBC website now?
I have a mac and I went to Unbox’s website and I am able to play the 2 minute “previews” of the individual episodes. I don’t know about downloading them though, and I don’t want to throw away my money and buy an episode or something if it doesn’t work…
Although, NBC, watch your sales FALL. Maybe then they will reverse this horrid decision. Also, amazon is just being mean – you can use itunes and watch episodes downloaded from itunes on a PC or a mac. it just doesn’t seem fair.
O.K so #212(calindigo), all I can think of is Kelloggs Apple Jacks cereal to send as a protest. It won’t perish, and is really light to send, although it might be a bit of a stretch to get the point across!! “Umm..so dear Universal, this cereal actually means I want The Office to be on itunes.” Anyone else got ideas??
FYI you can get all kinds of stupid apple themed stuff at teacher supply stores for usually pretty cheap. It might be a good place to get stickers and lightweight apple stuff to mail to them. Does anyone have an address that we should send things to?
Given the rise in popularity and–more importantly–sales in Apple products.. this was NOT a smart move.
I’m willing to bet (Apple fan) John Krasinski isn’t too happy either.
iTunes uses a proprietory DRM, and Apple is unwilling to share that technology with other partners. Unbox is using Microsoft’s PlaysForSure technology, that is open to any provider. Files are provided in Windows Media format, which Apple does not support. Pretty much every non-Apple device supports this, except Microsoft’s Zune — for some unknown reason, Microsoft chose not to support PlaysForSure with the Zune.
A quick comment to the Mac users here… Apple, by design, has kept the iPod and iTunes a closed technology. Naturally they do not support any of Microsoft’s technology (although they could if they wanted to). Any non-Apple service that NBC chooses will likely NOT support the iPod.
Are we sure Michael Eisner isn’t in charge of NBC these days? Because this is exactly the sort of “Evil Disney” kind of thing that he’d be all over.
you guys should buy something other than an i-pod when your i-pod breaks (and it will).
but yeah this is really going to work out for me because i have a Zune and the only videos that it plays are WMVs. I would probably be mad if i owned an ipod but hey NBC universal is a business and they are out to make money and there is nothing wrong with that. Please remember that NBC Universal is not a charity its a business
P.S. Sending boxes of apple jacks and apple stickers isn’t going to win them over, sorry.
APPLE is a monopoly and people are tired of it!
I understand you can’t expect them to always pick services to work on the iPod…but this is a service that ONLY works on Windows. At least with iTunes, you could watch them on both Mac and Windows.
This must suck if you used the iTunes service (and have a mac or whatever) but at the core of this it really highlights what is so horrible with all of these DRM-encumbered services. At any point in time you can be made obsolete or cut off entirely from playing the stuff you paid good money for. You don’t really OWN any of it.
[from tanster: please re-word and re-post. thanks!]
Hey awesomeblossom Amazon Unbox doesnt work on Zune, which is pretty sad that Microsoft doesnt even support its own DRM on its own media player. So before you feel sorry for iPod owners ur in the same boat too.
What seems odd to me is that one of the selling points of UnBox is the ability to play the items you purchased over your Tivo, and Tivos are designed to record tv shows, why would somebody who has Tivo want to PURCHASE a tv show on Unbox just to put it onto their Tivo, when recording things on a Tivo is FREE?
Also, on the Unbox site it looks like tv episodes are 1.99. If NBC split with apple because NBC wanted to charge more than 1.99, why did they go with Unbox, who is also charging 1.99? Not that want to complain about a lower price, i’m just confused…
Somebody should alert the news media: for the first time, Apple, Inc. was described as a “monopoly.” (226).
As SNL would say, “Really? A monopoly? Really?” I’m not going to patronize you by writing out the definition of monopoly here, but such an assertion is blatantly foolish. Nothing Apple produces/sells is only available from them. They don’t sell the only MP3 players, laptops, phones, or computers in the world. They aren’t even the only digital music store in the world.
They are, however, the best at MP3 players and digital music sales, which is why they are number one in market share. Thus, they have every right to protect their R&D and close their technology. What else are they going to fall back on? An iPhone that isn’t selling up to market expectations, or a 3% share in PC sales? Maybe getting rid of the NBC Universal contract was a bad move, but surely it is too soon to say “people are tired of it.” People (see all the posts above) might be annoyed, but almost no one is getting rid of iTunes any time soon.
While introducing the new iTunes Ringtone function during the Apple Keynote today, Steve Jobs played “Give Peace a Chance,” by John Lennon.
He then smiled and said, “That’ for when NBC calls…”
Sounds like Apple is still open to negotiation.
I don’t think NBC wanted to double the price of episodes, and that is apparent since pricing on Amazon is the same. The remark about wanting to double the price was something Apple fabricated to make NBC look like the bad guy.
I have to disagree with Dementia AL that Apple’s dominance of the MP3 market is due to a superior product. The reason for it’s dominance is because it’s a vertically integrated package… If you buy the iPod, you’re going to use iTunes. Apple knows this and it was a very smart move. But I would bet that many of the people buying iPods don’t even know there are other products out there — they know iPod and thats what they buy. That doesn’t mean it’s a better product.
[from tanster: please punctuate, spellcheck, and re-post. thanks!]
Deer Jerky made a good point… The heart of this issue is DRM. Apple has not licensed their DRM technology to other companies, meaning you must have an Apple product to play your purchased iTunes content. On the other end of the spectrum, Microsoft’s DRM technology is freely licensed and there are dozens of services (like Unbox) offering music and video in Windows Media format. With the exception of the Zune, which uses a new proprietory Zune-only DRM, almost all non-Apple devices support Windows Media. And the devices are NOT tied to a specific service provider. Unfortunately there is no universal DRM scheme, although several lawsuits in Europe (against Apple and others) seek to change this.
[from tanster: please punctuate and re-post. thanks!]
Maybe NBC wanted iTunes to pay more per episode, not neccessarily charge customers more per episode. Does that make sense?
Sure, Amazon is charging the same price as iTunes was at $1.99, but that doesn’t mean that NBC isn’t getting more money from Amazon than they got with their previous contract through iTunes. For example, say Apple was paying NBC 75 cents for every download, but now NBC is wanting Apple to give them $1.25 for every episode downloaded. Add that up, and that’s a lot of extra moola. Apple said no, and Amazon said “$1.25? No problem.”
Either way, though, I shun Unbox and NBC for this terrible decision. I will unshun when it’s undone. :)
As a die-hard Creative Zen (I own a Zen Micro identical to Pam’s Prism DuroSport) girl, I’m totally fine. Never have been a fan of the iPod, (I much prefer Creative,) but I understand people’s frustration since it is the big mp3 player out there.
I have a feeling that NBC and Apple’s relationship isn’t over, just sidetracked for a while. The contract isn’t up until December, so it’s still possible.
I frankly don’t know why NBC is bitching about the price. iTunes literally gave The Office (and thus NBC) its much needed fan-base and regular viewers.
At first I thought this was great news, that we would be able to download the show after all… then I tried it out. Ugh. It was a pain to set up and download and the video quality is inferior to that of the iTunes downloads, big time. NBC and Apple, kiss and make up already!
To Ashman:
Did you try the Amazon download or Hulu?
Does anyone know if any other networks have decided not to sell programing on iTunes, or is it just NBC Universal?
NBC may be getting more of cut of each download through Unbox, but I sure hope they notice when their sales tank as the episodes for Season 4 start coming online.
So they decide to leave the most popular service that has the most devices attached to it. They’re certainly not making a statement by leaving – just ticking off a bunch of customers.
NBC has now shut out all Mac users too, as Unbox doesn’t work on a Mac. I’m hopeful NBC will rethink their decision and come back to iTunes.
I’m just thinking during the negotiation for a new iTunes deal, the NBC negotiator was trying to pull a Wikipedia on Apple, but the Apple negotiator found out the NBC guy was wearing lady clothes.
I am still extrememly angry at NBC, but maybe this is why they left Apple:
Link
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117971505.html?categoryid=14&cs=1
I think 99 cents would be a wonderful price for a tv show, and I would totally still buy the dvds because I HAVE to have the extras.
hi everyone! I was just browsing through Amazon UnBox and discovered that NBC is offering the premieres of “Chuck”, “Bionic Woman”, “Life” and “Journeyman” for free download. I was harboring the faint hope that the premiere of “The Office” might also be available too, but alas, it seems the offer is only limited to new shows. Still, hope this news is helpful to fellow OT posters!
I’m glad the episodes will be available from elsewhere. iTunes picture quality is so terrible you have to play episodes half-size so they appear clear.
And hopefully this NBC/iTunes rift means that there will be less annoying Apple product placement in future Office episodes.
I’m confused. Does this mean that the Office will still be available on itunes through December?
The NBC statement seems to confirm this, but the statement from Apple says the new season won’t be available at all. This is a matter of life and death for me. I just moved to Vietnam with the understanding that I could still catch TO on itunes. I even bought a $50 gift certificate b4 i left the states just so I could do this without any problems. I checked out umbox and it says that TO will only be available in the continental U.S. I’ll die if I can’t get any Office over here.
[from tanster: 200-word limit]
Like one of the previous posters, I live in the Middle East and NBC does not allow me to download the episodes. I also own a Mac (my second strike) and Unbox does not work with Mac. What am I supposed to do?
I sent this to NBC today: If you want to sell your product on amazon, so be it. I’ve read forum posts about it and it seems like it limits your sales by not being available to mac users and not being available outside the US. Why can’t you offer it on iTunes as well? You can have your loyal iTunes fans buy it at your old wholesale price and people who don’t like iTunes or don’t have iPods can buy it from amazon for your new wholesale price. It’s a win win. You’ve covered more markets and the customers get to buy from the platform they want. I tried to buy The Office as soon as it premiered and just found out why it wasn’t available last night. I will not download it or buy the DVD unless it’s put back on iTunes though. I’ll just have a friend tape it on her VCR for me and go watch it at her house and fast forward through the commercials. I will also share this work-around solution, so that people stop feeling trapped by this and remember that we have other options besides the few you are giving us.