We're thrilled about this NBC download service
If you haven't heard about it, see here. NBC is going to launch its own download service where you can get NBC shows. This is their new initiative in the wake of severing their relationship with us. Why are we psyched?
Context & Ripple Effects
NBC walked away from its iTunes distribution agreement at the end of August after failing to negotiate new terms with Apple, and within three weeks announced 'NBC Direct,' an ad-supported service offering top shows as free downloads for up to a week after broadcast starting this fall. The move immediately raised questions about whether running its own storefront fits alongside its VOD plans and its role in the Hulu joint venture with News Corp.
This piece is the satirical Steve Jobs persona reacting to that announcement — the 'thrilled' framing is irony aimed at NBC's decision to leave the largest digital download store and build its own channel from scratch.
First-order effects
- NBC loses iTunes' built-in audience for shows whose contract is set to expire, and now has to drive viewers directly to an unproven ad-supported download service launching this fall.
- Apple loses one of the biggest suppliers of paid TV content from its store just as NBC's own storefront prepares to compete for the same viewers.
Second-order effects
- NBC's solo storefront puts pressure on its own Hulu joint venture with News Corp, since a network selling downloads directly sits awkwardly beside a shared streaming platform — hence the open question over NBC's continued role there.
- Rival networks and distributors face a fork: follow NBC into self-distribution or court displaced NBC viewers on their own platforms, reshaping which outlets hold leverage over the networks.
Third-order effects
- If networks can monetize their own ad-supported download channels, content owners gain structural leverage against platform aggregators, weakening the middleman model that made iTunes the default TV store.
- A fragmented landscape of per-network storefronts points toward industry consolidation around whichever joint platforms — like Hulu — prove they can aggregate what individual networks cannot.
The trend: TV networks are testing whether marquee content gives them enough leverage to bypass platform aggregators and run their own ad-supported download services.