NBC hates Apple, or at least iTunes. However, that doesn’t mean it hates iPhones, iPod Touches, or people who own these devices. If you need proof, then read on.

Despite having a major bust-up last year over NBC shows on iTunes, which resulted in NBC removing all of their content from Apple’s service, Alley Insider reports that they are now offering full episodes of two of their most popular shows on the iPhone.

DRM, Price & Advert Free

What’s more, they are available for free, without adverts, and in unprotected Quicktime format. Is this the same NBC that has tried to control pricing and DRM issues?

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Yesterday, we touched on the issue which seems to be dominating the blogosphere right about now, that of the plans Microsoft seem to be developing for having a copyright cop on the Zune player.

Microsoft, by way of Cesar Menendez, an employee who works on the Zune has since tried to rectify the issue, and on Zune Insider claims that Microsoft do not have any plans to add content filtering to the Zune.

However, Alex Curtis of Public Knowledge has delved deeper in to the issues, and in the following article looks at the legal implications of any such move were it to happen.

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Yesterday I reported how NBC has decided to get in to bed with Microsoft and offer individual episodes of its shows through the online Zune Store.

When NBC pulled all of its programming from Apple iTunes late last year after an argument with the iPod manufacturer, the two reasons cited for the falling out were pricing, and a lack of stringent filtering measures for pirated material.

The Coupling Becomes Clear

It didn’t immediately seem clear why NBC had now agreed to similar conditions from Microsoft when they wouldn’t accept them from Apple. However, after the New York Times spoke to J. B. Perrette, the president of digital distribution for NBC Universal, things may have become a little clearer.

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Last September saw NBC programming pulled off the Apple iTunes Store after a dispute between the two companies over tougher anti-piracy measures and a refusal to raise prices.

Just last month, NBC opened up the lines of communication again, and seemed to want back in, so long as their original complaints were dealt with. Apple didn’t budge, so it looks as though NBC has gone looking for a new distributor.

Microsoft Better Than Apple?

It has now found it in the form of Microsoft, who as part of an announcement about new Zune features, let it slip that NBC programmes will now be available through the online store.

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When Hulu was launched as a joint venture between NBC and Fox last October, YouTube suddenly became their enemy - NBC even deleted it’s YouTube channel and all of the content.

However, it seems there is now an official Hulu channel on YouTube. It was started on March 3rd, but has only now been noticed by The LA Times.

March 3rd places the channel’s launch date just prior to Hulu launching publicly, after it’s trial beta version. So what is a Hulu channel doing on one of, if not the biggest rival it has?

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At the moment, it seems there’s a high level of confusion about how Web TV can be made to be profitable while still offering a fair deal to viewers keen to lap up the new Internet based experiences.

It seems NBC Universal think it may have found a way, but it means we’ll have to put up with a heavy amount of product placement in future output made for the Web.

CNet is reporting that due to a deal between the television company and the Omnicom Group, programming will now be designed solely to highlight a sponsor’s products.

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Last September saw Apple and NBC acrimoniously split over their joint deal to distribute NBC programmes through iTunes.

At the time, NBC blamed Apple for not introducing tougher anti-piracy measures such as DRM, and also not being willing to raise the prices. Basically, it got greedy.

Since then, a lot has happened, with NBC first doing a deal with Amazon to see its programmes distributed via the Unbox service, but how successful that move has been is unclear.

Hulu

Then NBC jointly launched Hulu along with News Corp. as a way to combat piracy - the idea being that if viewers can watch shows legally, they are less likely to turn to YouTube and the like.

However, neither deal has taken away from the fact that iTunes is still a lucrative way of distributing programmes, and it seems that NBC now wants back in.

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