Note to NBC Execs: You Sound Like Morons
Maybe I’m missing something, but NBC Universal’s ridiculous stance that they’ll return to iTunes only if additional anti-piracy measures are implemented is a crock of shit. George Kliavkoff, chief digital officer at NBC, had this to say at ad:Tech this week:
Keep in mind, we’re talking about broadcast television content that is available over the airwaves in standard definition and high definition for free, yet NBC wants someone to not only pony up $2 per episode (and possibly more) but to add even more restrictions on what consumers can do with the content they buy.
They truly wind up sounding like fools when they talk about piracy and how much content on “leading MP3 players” is pirated. I’m sorry, but how does this have anything to do with selling video content through iTunes? No one has successfully cracked the FairPlay DRM and allowed iTunes video content to be distributed freely online. So what does that even mean? The MP3 argument doesn’t hold any weight in this equation.
By not offering their content for sale on the most popular digital storefront, all NBC is doing is driving more and more consumers to torrent their shows. Hulu is a good offering — I’m not debating that — but for a television network to restrict their shows to a browser-dependent medium, they’re doing nothing but limiting viewership potential online.