NBC Gets on Board
In a move that can only be described as expected, but none-the-less exciting, NBC has begun releasing shows from its networks (NBC, USA, and SciFi). New shows include most notably (at least to nerds like me) the full Battlestar Galactica Miniseries and both seasons of the critically acclaimed remake of the series. From USA, we get Seasons one and four of the comedic crime drama Monk (went downhill after season 2). And from good ol’ NBC, Law & Order, The Office, Surface, Leno, and Conan. Additionally, NBC has released episodes of Dragnet, Night Rider, Adam-12, and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
With Fox stating that they would be open to an Apple partnership, this seems to be a precursor of things to come
Jason Terhorst on December 6th, 2005 at 8:58 am
I tried to get to the page for The Office, but it’s getting slammed right now. Oh, well. Awesome show, though. I’ll be checking it out soon.
Colin D. Devroe on December 6th, 2005 at 2:52 pm
Yeah, the Office is going to put a huge spike in # of downloads for sure. Can’t wait to see some numbers in January.
Dan Lurie on December 6th, 2005 at 4:23 pm
If you guy’s haven’t seen the original Office, I highly recommend checking it out. The episodes are exactly the same, line for line, in most cases — but those Brits pull off their special brand of humour that one just doesn’t get with the NBC version.
Jason Terhorst on December 6th, 2005 at 5:45 pm
Other than the Office, I don’t see a whole lot of “pull” yet. It might help Apple if they grab Fox and “Family Guy”. That show is huge, and is within the demographic that iTunes has (males between 18 and 25). That will definitely get downloads. In fact, I remember that Conan was making jokes about NBC losing in the ratings. That’s probably why NBC is trying to get some money in this market. Since they don’t have Friends anymore, they’re probably hurting… a lot.
Steve on December 6th, 2005 at 6:58 pm
I first saw The Office original series after watching quite a few US episodes. I just didn’t like it. For one, it is a bit hard to understand the accent, especially when I was watching it in bed with the volume low after my girlfriend had gone to sleep. For another, most Americans don’t get half the British references.
Anyhoo, we’re getting off track. If watching downloaded videos was a bit more integrated with our TV/stereo, I’d probably buy episodes of old shows like Dragnet, Adam 12, and Emergency!
brian on December 6th, 2005 at 10:10 pm
This is an interesting development but I hope that for the average consumer Apple can integrate things easily and affordably into a home entertainment system in some other way than building a system using a rather pricey G5. With a totally integrated system, they would own home entertainment for a while with iTunes for music, movies and pay-per episode television while building something better than a TIVO. Voila, a kick ass system for your living room.
Johnny on December 22nd, 2005 at 11:44 pm
I have tried to figure out how to download the Battlestar series but all I can find is pages with info telling me that it can be done. Been all over the apple site and can not find any download interface for the series. I did sownload the iTunes program and it gives me options to download obscure individule shows but no series are offered. How do I download the Battlestar series???????????
Johnny on December 22nd, 2005 at 11:45 pm
I have tried to figure out how to download the Battlestar series but all I can find is pages with info telling me that it can be done. Been all over the apple site and can not find any download interface for the series. I did sownload the iTunes program and it gives me options to download obscure individule shows but no series are offered. How do I download the Battlestar series???????????