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Seattle, Washington-based Amazon.com said that popular NBC shows available on Amazon Unbox include the Emmy Award-winning series The Office, the critically acclaimed drama Heroes, and Emmy-nominated comedy 30 Rock. From September 10, Amazon Unbox customers can download for free the pilot episodes of NBC's new shows, Bionic Woman, Chuck, Journeyman and Life, in advance of their network premieres. Further, the company said that new episodes would be available on Amazon Unbox the day after they air on TV, while complete seasons may be purchased as soon as the season concludes.
Amazon.com said that it was offering customers a variety of content packages including up to 30% off on purchase of full seasons of their favorite TV series. The offerings include new releases such as Smokin'Aces and Hot Fuzz, classics such as Psycho and National Lampoon's Animal House, in addition to Knocked Up and Evan Almighty later this year. Amazon noted that Amazon Unbox has offered movies from Universal Pictures, Rogue Pictures and Focus Features since September 2006.
Jean-Briac Perrette, President of NBC Universal Digital Distribution said, "With the addition of NBC Universal TV content to Amazon Unbox, fans now have the ultimate convenience for enjoying their favorite shows whenever or wherever they want. This further expands our longstanding relationship to bring a robust content offering to the marketplace in a variety of ways that will benefit the consumer and, at the same time, protects our content."
Bill Carr, Vice President for Digital Music and Video of Amazon.com said, "We are excited to bring NBC Universal shows like the award-winning The Office, 30 Rock and Battlestar Galactica to our Amazon Unbox customers. Our customers can now enjoy their favorite NBC Universal shows either on their personal computer or on their TV through the Amazon Unbox on TiVo service."
NBC Universal was formed in May 2004 by the combination of General Electric Co.'s (GE | charts | news | PowerRating) NBC with Vivendi Universal Entertainment. Vivendi owns 20% of NBC Universal. NBC Universal's networks include USA Network, SCI FI Channel, Bravo, Telemundo, mun2, NBC Sports and NBC News.
Amazon.com noted that shows available on Amazon Unbox include USA Network's Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning Monk, SCI FI channel's Emmy-nominated Battlestar Galactica, Bravo's Emmy-nominated Top Chef, Telemundo's El Cuerpo De Deseo, and mun2's The Chicas Project. Further, the company said that additional shows and episodes from NBC Universal's networks would be added to Amazon Unbox regularly.
Last week, NBC Universal told Apple that it planned to stop selling television shows through iTunes if the two sides were not able to reach a new agreement with more pricing options and piracy controls by the end of the year. In response, Apple said that it would not be selling NBC television shows for the upcoming television season on its online iTunes Store. The iTunes store is an online business run by Apple, which sells media files that are accessed through its iTunes Application. NBC had announced a partnership with Apple to offer shows from NBC Universal channels on the iTunes Store in December 2005.
NBC decided to not renew its arrangement with iTunes after Apple refused to pay more than double the wholesale price for each NBC TV episode. Apple said that the NBC price hike would have resulted in the retail price to consumers increasing to $4.99 per episode from the current levels of $1.99 per episode. Apple's arrangement with other networks including ABC, CBS, FOX, and The CW along with other cable networks are to provide TV shows for the upcoming season on iTunes at $1.99 per episode. NBC shows last season accounted for 30% of iTunes television video show sales.
The dispute reflects the tension between media and technology companies as they fight for advantage in the booming market to sell video online. Film and television companies are desperate not to repeat the music industry's mistakes. NBC is currently preparing to launch and online video portal with News Corp. (NWS | charts | news | PowerRating) called Hulu.com that will feature its film and television clips.
In July, Universal Music Group, the largest music company, said that it would not renew its annual contract to sell music through iTunes. Instead, Universal said that it would market music to Apple at will, allowing it to remove its songs from the iTunes service on short notice if the two sides did not agree on pricing or other terms. Last month, Universal revealed a plan to sell some songs in MP3 format, without Digital Rights Management, through a variety on online services such as the newly-created gBox. The company also said that these tracks would not be available through the iTunes Store. Universal and others have long complained that Apple has used its dominance in the online music market to force them to accept a uniform, $0.99-per-track pricing model while it cashes in on lucrative sales of its iPod device.
AMZN closed Tuesday's regular trading session at $82.70, up $2.79 on a volume of 8.25 million shares. In Wednesday's pre-market trading, the stock is currently trading at $82.45, down $0.25 or 0.30%. In the 52-week period, the stock has been trading in a range of $29.90-$89.00.
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