Apple and NBC Universal close to iTunes UK deal

NBC Universal is close to signing a deal to sell TV shows through iTunes in the UK, C21 magazine is reporting.

The move would mark the debut of TV video downloads through Apple's iTunes Music Store overseas. iTunes customers in the United States have been offered this option since last October and have download around 12 million episodes to date.

According to the report, NBC is planning to test the waters with a select number of sci-fi series — one of the most popular genres with US iTunes customers. Candidates are reported to include Battlestar Galactica, Surface and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

A spokesman for Apple said the company had "no new news" to report on its iTunes download service.

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24 Comments

ireland

said about 18 years ago

About time...............we are always last.Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!

nagromme

said about 18 years ago

Only fair... several of the stars of Galactica are from the UK

porchland

said about 18 years ago

Good news. This should keep the pressure on CBS, Sony, etc., to join the pack.

Reading the story on Think Secret yesterday about the iTunes film rights negotiations, I'm a little confused about who controls the iTunes distribution rights to film and TV content. Considering the content we've seen from Disney/ABC and Universal/NBC so far, I assumed the big seven studios controlled almost all of the film and TV content that they produced.

The Think Secret article indicated that Starz and HBO owned the digital distribution rights to most films. I'm not sure if that's accurate. I assume that when Starz, HBO, TCM, Showtime, etc., have rights to a film, the rights are for a certain period of time and are exclusive of other networks.

Are the pay cable deals so favorable to the cable networks that the cable networks effectively have veto on other digital distribution? That just sounds fuzzy to me.

ireland

said about 18 years ago

Myself I would perfer 3 options for movie downloads.

1. rent for two nights ?1.99

2. buy to keep with rights to burn for home use, ?9.99 for new release.

3. for the sake of pleasing the few, less than 10% that demand subscription!

?9.99 per month, no burning, minimum 6 months contract.
That might seem like a tall order, but if Apple and more importantly movie studios are smart, and choose this setup, then over 90% of the of iTunes users would use it including me.

Conclusion.....................Money and a lot of it for the for the very hard to please "studios", and apple!

AND happy customers too!8)

crees!

said about 18 years ago

Quote:

Originally posted by Ireland
Myself I would perfer 3 options for movie downloads.

1. rent for two nights ?1.99

2. buy to keep with rights to burn for home use, ?9.99 for new release.

3. for the sake of pleasing the few, less than 10% that demand subscription!

?9.99 per month, no burning, minimum 6 months contract.

I think a combo rental service (whether it be subscription or per movie) plus the option to buy would be best.