Would 99-cent television show rentals devalue episodes from the major studios? That’s what NBC is worrying about these days, and it’s likely the major reason why they’ve yet to sign on with Apple’s plan to rent individual TV shows. Jeff Zucker came right out and said it, but we’re still trying to figure out just how paying for an NBC product would be devaluing it.
To Zucker, President and CEO of NBC Universal, 99 cents is far too cheap for them to consider. The hilarious part about this whole thing is that there’s a huge number of people out there looking to make the move from streaming NBC TV shows illegally online to purchasing them in a pay-per-view type scenario. People want to go legit, and if the price is right, people have no problem paying for the content. Make it easy on everyone and they’ll pay you with real money. It’s that simple, and yet somehow NBC just can’t grasp it.
When was the last time you looked at your cable bill and said to yourself, “You know what, I’m getting a good deal here.” It doesn’t happen, because traditional television bundles are a giant pile of crap. I would say once every couple of years a television show comes along that’s worth watching. It’s mostly crap, and it’s barely worth 99 cents an episode as it stands. So maybe the first step for NBC here is to take a step back and stop overvaluing what they do.
It’s pretty interesting to hear Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg talk about what he thinks is happening in the television industry, and hopefully Zucker sat in on his talk, because if anyone has first hand knowledge about how technology can change your business model, it’s Seidenberg.
“I think cable has some life left in its model… but that it is going to get disintermediated over the next several years…I’ve seen the movie. If you remain static too long, the technology is going to nibble at you on the edges, and you have to be prepared for it.”
NBC better prepare themselves because I don’t think I’m the only person who has been thinking about cancelling my cable entirely. You have to be in it to win it, and not being available on devices where we’re consuming media means a giant loss for NBC.
Article Via The Apple Blog
