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NBC, Fox, and the iTunes War

While NBC has decided to leave iTunes and strike out on its own, Fox has recently demonstrated that it fully embraces the iTunes business model. Today we reflect on the effectiveness of these decisions.

During his recent keynote speech, Steve Jobs proclaimed that Apple has sold almost 100 million TV episodes on iTunes. While the revenue from these sales was probably dwarfed by what the TV companies made through advertising and other revenue streams, it still represents a phenomenal start for a service that didn't exist a few years ago.

Apple has been exploring other pricing options for its services in an effort to increase consumer demand and this was reportedly one of the reasons why NBC dropped out of Apple's service. For many industry observers, this move by NBC was baffling, seeing as how iTunes apparently was responsible for the renewal of NBC's hit show, "The Office;" NBC was basically biting the hand that feeds it. It remains to be seen whether their new online ventures will bear fruit.

In the meantime, Fox has offered its pilot episodes for free, in a move that made the rounds in a number of blogs and news outlets recently. This was a brilliant marketing strategy; it built buzz for its fall shows and potentially exposes a whole new set of eyes to people that wouldn't have otherwise have been interested in Anthony Anderson's latest acting effort. But perhaps the most impressive thing from the whole affair is that they made everyone temporarily forget one fundamental truth about the broadcast television industry: It's already free to watch and record. All told, from a cost-benefit standpoint, Fox definitely won this round.

Reader Comments (2)

Brett Borders, September 24, 2007

iTunes sux... it's the Internet Explorer of audio and video content, only worse and more proprietary.

LedScreenChina, June 7, 2009

Who is the power one ? NBC, Fox, and the iTunes War..lol...