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NBC Chief Slamming Apple

Posted by kdawson on from the catch-more-flies-with-honey dept.

On the heels of the beta of NBC's and News Corp.'s less-than-killer Hulu music store, NBC's chief Jeff Zucker is speaking out and saying the darnedest things. First, news.com reports, with derision, that Zucker demanded a cut of Apple's iPod revenue. That'll sure happen. Next, AppleInsider caught Zucker urging colleagues to take a stand against Apple's iTunes, charging that the digital download service was undermining the ability of traditional media companies to set profitable rates for their content online.

2 of 299 comments (clear)

  1. Really worried about losing his stranglehold by antifoidulus · · Score: 5, Interesting

    he sees what is happening to the RIAA and is scared. Labels are really no longer necessary for a large number of bands to get their music out, with digital distribution, significantly lower production costs etc. And a lot of bands are dropping their labels as fast as they can. The reason the RIAA hates iTunes is that iTunes isn't controlled by them thus has no qualms about selling independent content. They want to launch their own service that only has bands signed by them to try to force bands to stay signed, but its just not going to happen.

    NBC is worried about following in their footsteps. While the bar for TV shows is a bit higher, its certainly not out of reach. For instance, how much would it really cost a group of independent people to make the next Seinfeld? Not a lot, esp. now that good video editing tools are pretty cheap(if not free in some cases). Look at how "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" started, the pilot episode cost them less than $100 to make. Imagine if they promoted that on iTunes instead of selling it to a network? They probably could have got enough money to continue to make more episodes and live comfortably. NBC sees its own irrelevance and is doing everything it can to try to stay relevant, but long term its just not going to happen.

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    Monstar L
  2. Re:Hey Zucker, go $#!^ in your own hat. by works · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I love the logic in that. If these were the car and oil companies, Shell would be seeking a free revenue stream from Ford because, god damnit, their cars run on Shell's content. Albeit that Shell has already been paid for that content, but anyways. WE WANT MORE MONEY, GIVE IT TO USSSSS!

    Some cleanup is needed in the high-up of media companies, how can these asshats even remotely expect to run a profitable distribution system in the near future.