NBC Direct: Don't Bother
NBC launched its NBC Direct beta over the weekend. The service allows you to download NBC shows to your computer and view them for 48 hours, but compared with the rather elegant (though still limited) Hulu — which is part-owned by NBC — NBC Direct is an overly complicated mess.
Context & Ripple Effects
NBC has been telegraphing this move since its September VOD announcement, which raised the obvious question of what would happen to Hulu, the streaming venture NBC part-owns. The answer arrived over the weekend: rather than fold downloads into Hulu, NBC shipped a separate client, previewed in Mashable's launch exclusive, that lets viewers keep shows for just 48 hours.
The reception was hostile from the start — NewTeeVee calls the beta an overly complicated mess next to Hulu's more elegant interface, and even satirical coverage like Fake Steve Jobs' 'thrilled' post treated the restrictions as the story. Meanwhile rival ABC is taking a lighter-touch path with free ad-supported shows through AOL.
First-order effects
- NBC now runs two competing consumer interfaces for its own catalog — the polished Hulu site it co-owns and the restrictive NBC Direct client — splitting its online audience and brand between them.
- Viewers who try the beta get a 48-hour viewing window with a clunky download process, an experience critics are already framing as worse than simply watching on Hulu.
Second-order effects
- ABC's free-via-AOL model becomes the comparison point every NBC Direct review will be measured against, pressuring NBC to justify why its own service is more limited than a competitor's free stream.
- Hulu's partners gain leverage in internal negotiations: if NBC's solo effort underperforms, the case strengthens for routing NBC content exclusively through the shared platform rather than network-branded clients.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, 2007's wave of network-built download clients with short DRM windows gives way to consolidation around joint streaming platforms — networks learning that distribution UX, not content ownership alone, decides online video winners.
The trend: Broadcasters are discovering that proprietary download clients with restrictive viewing windows lose to shared streaming platforms, forcing a choice between brand control and user experience.