NBC Universal's Unbox prices match those at iTunes

Stephen Withers
Wednesday, 05 September 2007 10:49

Business IT - Technology

I suppose NBC Universal has proved its point that its spat with Apple wasn't about increasing prices - it is selling shows through Amazon's Unbox service at the same $US1.99 that applied at the iTunes Store.

So what's changed? Amazon's season pass discounts of up to 30 percent are more generous than Apple's, so maybe I misjudged NBC Universal's motivation. Other combo deals are hinted at.

The biggest downside of the move from iTunes to Unbox is that NBC Universal's content will no longer be playable on Mac OS X (admittedly a minority market) or on the iPod, which is by far and away the most popular portable player. This is because Unbox only offers protected WMA files. On the other hand, they will work on TiVo and players from various manufacturers that have licensed Microsoft's codec and DRM scheme.

The Unbox licence is also more restrictive than iTunes', allowing the use of up to two portable and two non-portable devices. Each device can only be used with one Unbox account. iTunes allows up to five computers to be authorised on one account, and one computer can be authorised to play content purchased on multiple accounts. iPods do not require authorisation, but Apple makes it difficult to transfer protected content between multiple computers and one iPod.

The addition of NBC Universal TV shows to Unbox "further expands our longstanding relationship to bring a robust content offering to the marketplace in a variety of ways that will benefit the consumer and, at the same time, protects our content," said Jean-Briac Perrette, president of NBC Universal Digital Distribution.

NBC Universal shows already available on Unbox include The Office, Heroes and 30 Rock. Free pilot episodes of Bionic Woman, Chuck, Journeyman and Life will be available from September 10. Regular episodes of NBC Universal shows will appear on Unbox the day after they go to air.

Amazon has signed other popular TV networks, including CBS, Fox, BBC, Discovery, MTV and Nickelodeon.