Who came off better and worse in the recent Apple NBC iTunes
debacle?
The Internet is buzzing with opinions and viewpoints in the
light of the planned severance to come next week, when The Peacock’s
fall programming has its public debut.
Chris Tew covered the news soon after it broke,
and now we receive word that, following its exit from the iTunes shop,
NBC
has tapped Amazon for the distribution of its content for the season
ahead. So we figured we’d pick the story apart some
more.
There’s no doubt that both Apple and NBC are going
to lose out as a
result of this separation. Whether or not NBC did in fact want a
premium paid by iTunes customers for its new shows, doesn’t
really
matter all that much.
Sure, the alleged demands of $4 or so per episode
are no doubt outlandish, if that is indeed an accurate number. I dare
say $1.99 is a pretty hefty fee already.
Apple Provides NBC With Most Income
More important than anything,
however, is the fact that NBC needs the sale of its programming on
iTunes to continue, regardless of cost, because, simply put,
Apple’s
outlet has consistently provided the network with the most income this
side of the online-offline divide.
There’s really no getting around
that truth.
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