Reaction to NBC/Uni deal mixed online
March 22, 2007

It's been one of those weeks where it feels like no news happens in the DVD business (the one that makes boatloads of money) anymore just because of all the download news from Apple TV shipping to today's announcement by NBC Universal and News Corp. that they will launch an Internet video service this summer to compete against YouTube.

Taking a look around blogs this afternoon, reaction looks mixed. On Slashdot, it's mostly negative, with one commenter calling the deal "crap" and saying it "misunderstands the interest in YouTube. YouTube is not popular because people are "snagging free stuff" that they already have on their Tivo, etc. Repackaging the TV is stupid. That is an aspect of YouTube, and the only one that this is a reaction to.

On Consumerist, the reaction was mostly positive, (though with some unhappy that it won't play on Macs) with one saying "But hey, if we get free online Simpsons out of the deal, I'm in :)"

UPDATE Looks like much of the content on the site will be for sale as a download and not streamed for free with advertisements. In an afternoon conference call,NBC's Jeff Zucker said all of his studios TV shows that are sold on iTunes would be offered for sale on the new joint venture. Movies also will mostly be offered as a download. Which seems to make it much less like a YouTube competitor (even if it offers some user-generated content) and more like a competitor to iTunes, Amazon.com Unbox and other download sites including studio-backed Movielink. NBC is one of five studios with a stake in Movielink, despite efforts to sell it for more than two years running, because as sources have told me, it's hard to get studios to agree on anything. huh.

Posted by Jennifer Netherby on March 22, 2007 | Comments (0)