NBC Direct to Offer TV Downloads

Shortly after pulling shows from the iTunes Store, NBC will offer limited free downloads of its shows in a bid to launch its own iTunes competitor.

Only a few weeks after pulling its television programming from Apple’s iTunes store in a ruff over pricing and packaging options—and then turning up on Amazon Unbox—broadcast television network NBC has announced it will be offering time-limited free downloads of television episodes via a new service called "NBC Direct." The episodes will be available for free in Windows Media DRM format, and will contain embedded advertising which users will not be able to skip over. One week after the episode’s original air date, the free downloadable digital versions will expire.

NBC plans to launch the service in October, and expand NBC Direct’s offerings over time to enable users to subscribe to shows, automatically downloading new episodes as they become available. NBC also plans to add features which let users transfer episodes to a mobile device or even view them on (gasp!) non-Windows machines like Macs.

The network apparently hopes to position NBC Direct as a pay-to-download service by mid-2008, offering both new and archived shows to customers for a fee. The arrangement would enable the network to skip over online distributors—like Amazon and Apple—and offer its programming in any format, bundling arrangement, or price point they feel would be appropriate. The network plans to offer high-definition programming by distributing it via peer-to-peer technology, with a dedicated viewer which would prevent users from viewing programming. NBC did not discuss any pricing information for its programming, or indicate whether paid downloads would contain advertising.

On the surface, NBC Direct would seem to have placed several obstacles in its own path: although free downloads have historically served to boost interest in a show, preventing users from transferring those shows to portable devices and expiring them after one week seems likely to cause more frustration than benefit. And, as with Amazon Unbox, NBC Direct’s decision to go with Windows Media DRM not only leaves the Macintosh ecosystem out of their service, but it also abandons untold millions of video-capable iPods and customers who were previously paying to download shows from Apple’s iTunes store. Perhaps by the time NBC Direct is up and running, the network will have had time to address some aspects of its proposed business model.

NBC also has not discussed how NBC Direct with interact with Hulu, the new video download service coming in October, stemming from a partnership between NBC and rival News Corp.