Exec: Apple must address piracy before NBC returns to iTunes
By Jacqui Cheng | Published: April 17, 2008 - 11:04AM CT
NBC says it wants to be able to put its TV content back on the iTunes
Store,
but still has a few reservations-one of which could hold the network back
from joining iTunes forever. NBC would still like to be able to bump up
prices-something that Apple has been stubborn about in the past, but has
shown it's open to negotiation over when it comes to movie licensing. NBC
would also like Apple to tighten up its DRM, however, in such a way that
would block NBC's content from being transferred onto iPods.
NBC chief digital officer George Kliavkoff made the comments during an
interview at this week's Ad:Tech conference in San Francisco, where he
discussed what the company wants out of its relation****p with Apple. "We'd
love to be on iTunes. It has a great customer experience. We'd love to
figure out a way to distribute our content on iTunes," Kliavkoff said,
according to CNet. "We have film distribution with iTunes so yes, we do
talk
to Apple."
Still, those hopeful that their favorite shows might make a triumphant
return to iTunes anytime soon shouldn't hold their breath. The kicker was
when Kliavkoff decided to delve into piracy and digital music players. "If
you look at studies about MP3 players, especially leading MP3 players and
what ****tion of that content is pirated, and think about how that content
gets onto that device, it has to go through a gatekeeping piece of
software,
which would be a convenient place to put some antipiracy measures," he
said.
"One of the big issues for NBC is piracy. We are financially harmed every
day by piracy. It results in us not being able to invest as much money in
the next generation of film and TV products."
That's right: NBC would like to dump its contents back onto iTunes, ask
you
for at least $2 (or more) per episode, and then have Apple place extremely
tight restrictions on if and how it can be played on an iPod or iPhone.
Without the ability to take it with you off of a computer-like, say, when
you're riding the train to work, or flying across the country-there isn't
a
lot of difference between buying a show on iTunes and watching it for free
on Hulu. And perhaps that's the point.
Kliavkoff also indicated that NBC still expects more control over pricing
(translation: more money), and even made a jab at Apple's effect on the
music industry as a result of its rigid pricing structure: "The music
industry guys would have something to say about how the pricing has
affected
their product over the last few years," he said.
When NBC and Apple had their messy break-up last August, Apple accused
the
network of attempting to hike up prices from $1.99 to $4.99 per download.
This was in addition to re****ts in the media that the two were already
butting heads over DRM. (Apple's fairly liberal DRM scheme allows users to
authorize up to five different machines, and play DRMed content on an
unlimited number of iPods synced up to those machines-it's one of the few
DRM schemes in use that doesn't completely stifle users, but that
Hollywood
and TV networks have long hated.) In December, NBC pulled its long list of
shows from the iTunes Store, as it had just begun testing its own online
video venture, Hulu. Hulu has turned out to be pretty decent, as far as
online video is concerned, although it still has a number of limitations
(including only being able to access videos while online, and not being
able
to download them to any devices).
Since Apple's iPods (and iPhone) are appealing in no small part because of
their ability to play content from the iTunes Store, we will likely see
pigs
grow wings and take off before Steve Jobs agrees to enforce the type of
restrictions that NBC apparently wants.
--
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abstinence-only *** education, has the sixth-highest teen pregnancy rate
in
the country.
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