NBC has finally joined ABC by offering some of its TV shows via the iTunes music store. These including NBC shows such as The Office, Law & Order, skits from Conan O’Brien, as well as the Sci-Fi channel’s Battlestar Galactica. Some classic NBC shows are offered as well, including Knight Rider and Dragnet. ESPN said it is considering offering their programming via iTunes as well.
Apple simultaneously announced that it has sold over 3 million videos since its Oct. 12th launch. Unfortunatly Apple didn’t release a breakdown of how many of these were TV shows and how many were music videos. Before the NBC deal they had a catalog of 5 TV shows to choose from. Their catalog also includes over 3,000 music videos.
Finally we are approaching a point where television shows get to compete directly on quality, and perhaps even price. It’s beautiful.
On a side note, I visited the Apple store in Orlando on Black Friday and saw the video iPod for the first time. The quality is superb. Compared to those handheld TVs of old, it surpassed all my expectations. Now it’s quite easy to see how someone could watch a tv show on it.
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