NBC Direct Launches With Free Downloads

thefickler writes "It's here, and it's no joke. NBC has launched NBC Direct where most shows can be watched online and some shows are available for full episode downloads. This comes after NBC decided to pull out of iTunes." For now it's Windows only, XP or Vista, IE 6 or 7.

Comments

Streaming vs. Downloads... at the cost of DRM

[compumike]

Finally, someone understands that the times when we've got time to watch old TV episodes, we're not likely to have internet access! I've often found myself traveling (train/plane) and it's been a perfect time to watch, but have been thwarted because of streaming-only services.

Of course, the Windows-only DRM makes this totally useless to me at the moment. Actually, can anyone think of any examples where a service promised Mac/Linux versions "coming soon" and it actually happened? I sure can't... That's DRM for you. :-(

--
Educational microcontroller kits for a digital generation.

Re:Streaming vs. Downloads... at the cost of DRM

[deniable]

I don't mind the streaming, so long as the pinheads involved allow buffering and caching. If a video is taking too long from Youtube, you can pause it and let it buffer the damn thing. The CBS innertube wouldn't do this, and gods was it annoying getting a word every five seconds. That was for the mandatory ad, I gave up on the whole thing after that.

As an aside, the only videos I see with Windows DRM are porn spam that use a 'feature' of WMP to take you to a website for licenses and malware.

Re:Streaming vs. Downloads... at the cost of DRM

[Anonymous Coward]

C.S.I season 5 just hit the stores around here in local region (region 1 parallel import is region 7 I think, but you aren't supposed to be able to see them), so if you follow the show on TV (which is season 7 right now I think) its kinda hard to pick up the season for a trip.

I for one hope NBC etc. will release the shows for international viewers, and I don't care about any commercials, as long as I can pick up the program and watch it at my own convenience, the only stuff I pick off of torrent these days are TV shows since they are so outdated when they finally hit the market here that its a mood point to buy them.

Windows only, IE only, DRM only, USA only.

[Anonymous Coward]

Yeah, this will keep me from the torrents.

Strike

[El Lobo]

And this is exactly why the writers are now on strike. They get nothing from the distribution online while the broadcasting companies gets all the income generated from ads, etc. But even worst: they get nothing from the distribution on DVD in some cases.

Re:Windows DRM means not free.

[Anonymous Coward]

In that case, I guess no software is ever free, since you have to buy the hardware to run it on.

Correction

[Aqua OS X]

So here are your downloading options...
1) Goto BitTorrent... where new shows pop up right after they air, download speeds are insanely fast, there are no ads, there is no DRM, and I can get video that will play on whatever computer or device I want.
2) Goto NBC... where new shows pop up at 2am, I'm downloading from one source, there are ads, lots of ads, there is DRM, lots of DRM, and I can only play video on a Vista or XP computer.

NBC doesn't seem to realize that a conveniance based model has more opportunities for growth. Time after time the internet has favored those who have figured out how to make a profit by catering to conveniance.

Re:Correction

[totally bogus dude]

I agree. They have a big advantage over the cap groups: they have the episode well before it's aired, in perfect quality. They could put up their own torrents for it the moment the episode ends on TV, or even halfway through it. Provide their own trackers, but submit the torrent to the popular sites so it's easy to access (in addition to putting it on their own website). Using their own trackers means they get viewership statistics -- probably more accurate than the Neilson family stats at that!

Most people will use the official torrent: it's guaranteed good quality, complete, available before anyone else's, and sanctioned by the producer. People will tolerate some ads, so long as they're not obnoxious. There's only so many companies that can be advertised in a global market, anyway. Add a "If you want to support this show, visit ..." to the end credits and have a site which lists the show's sponsors, a donation box, merchandise, etc. This site could use localisation to tell you about the sponsors nearest to you, so the networks don't need to miss out on local ad revenue.

It's interesting how big media still seems to believe they absolutely must exert 100% complete control over their content in order to be profitable, while seemingly oblivious to the fact they haven't had control for a long time and have been profitable regardless. Most people aren't greedy and selfish, but I think most people do feel completely disconnected from the fate of their favourite shows. For the vast majority of people, the networks have absolutely no idea what shows they watch. What does it matter if I torrent a show rather than watch it on TV? I'm not going to buy stuff I see advertised during it, and even if I did, the company that makes it has no real way of correlating that with the fact they sponsored a particular show.

I guess realistically, it's easier for the networks to produce a few shows which rake in millions in advertising, than it is to produce a lot of shows which are individually profitable, but with smaller margins.

Great Timing!

[owlnation]

Excellent timing! The perfect time to launch this is during a writers' strike where they are trying to be justly paid for such downloadable content.

Kind of makes a mockery of the studios argument, namely: giving this stuff away free on the net is just worthless promotional material. If that's truly the case, why not just give it away free? i.e. no DRM, and no region nor software restrictions.

Or might it be that the studios are... lying?

Re:Let's see here...

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

"I just don't see how NBC could have fucked up more."

They could have supported only Konqueror on Linux, spooked the big-wigs funding it by not using DRM, and made it ad-free so they don't generate revenue from it.

Clueless.

[mattr]

Great I thought, and then had the wind taken out of my sails. They refuse to display the clip if you are out of the region they define. Despite that it would be used I think by people on vacation who don't want to miss their favorite show. Sum of my experience:

1. Watch TV! Yay!
2. But it's NBC! They have a lot of programs and they all suck! Honestly I wanted to watch Stargate Atlantis or some kind of scifi-y thing. Nope. They got ten cop shows though. Fine I pick the updated Bionic Woman I haven't seen before.
3. Figure out their convoluted interface, okay. Very spiffy but what I really want is to quickly find out what the show is about then watch it, y'know? Looks like they must spend a lot of money to add shows to this system.
4. They don't have the first episode of the series! Arrrgh! No matter of clicking little arrows will show it!
5. Pick a chapter. Wuh? This isn't a DVD!! Will I have to click each chapter as they finish? (Cringe!)
6. Okay here we go, I clicked the first chapter of the first clip I could find. ARRRRRGHH!! I'm in Japan and instead of a video, the video pane shows a message saying they refuse to show the video!! AAAAAACK!
7. Goodbye NBC.

Re:Works fine on a Mac

[DietFluffy]

You can stream on Mac, but you need Windows to download.