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NBC Strikes Deal with Amazon to Sell TV Shows Online
NBC Universal augmented its relationship with Amazon’s Unbox digital video download service after a dispute with Apple over the pricing of television shows sold via Apple’s iTunes service. NBC announced that Amazon had agreed to give it something that Apple would not: greater flexibility in the pricing and packaging of video downloads. NBC Universal currently offers older movies from its library, such as “Animal House” and “Psycho”, over Unbox and is expected to make newer releases available before the end of the year.
Currently, iTunes offers a flat pricing scheme, with episodes of television shows available for $1.99 (all values in US dollars) and movies for $9.99. Unbox pricing has not been announced, however, currently new release television episodes and movies are sold at higher prices than older releases. Additional features offered by Unbox include the ability to rent instead of purchase a downloaded product (typically $3.99 versus $14.99). Amazon has also reportedly agreed to offer promotional discounts, including a 30% discount when an entire season of television episodes is purchased.
The move has led to speculation the other dissatisfied media companies, notably News Corporation, may attempt to reach distribution agreements with Amazon, strengthening the position of the fledgling iTunes rival.
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