Comcast and NBC... Only Apple Can Stop It

image: NewLaunches.comIt hasn't been nearly the news story it should be, but Comcast has been in talks to buy NBC for quite some time now. About a month ago, it looked like the whole thing fell through, but lately, rumblings of a purchase have re-surfaced.

This isn't like Disney owning ABC, or News Corp owning Fox. As we all know, Comcast is the tv and cable pipeline for a large portion of the country. Put yourself in the shoes of CBS, or any of the other networks. Imagine relying on your own competitor to beam your channel into millions of homes. Comcast could decide it's not worth it to carry Lifetime, or ABC Family (both parts of ABC) in favor of two new NBC channels. Your future as a broadcaster/network would lie squarely in the hands of the enemy.

Maybe that's why Apple has chosen this time to start shopping around monthly subscription options for television. You wouldn't expect the other networks to get on board, but in the face of the looming Comcast/NBC merger potential, it would make sense to find another distribution method.

While I said Apple could stop it, on their own, they wouldn't stop it as much as offer another option for consumers and other networks. They could lobby the FCC though, to keep the deal from going through. Would that be in Apple's best interest though? Would they be better served by being an alternative to the NBC/Comcast coalition? What about consumers?

Let us know what you think in the comments...

Conan O'Brien Debuts Twitter Tracker

You know how exciting twitter can be! No? Well thankfully Conan O'Brien debuted the Twitter Tracker to track Twitter for you:

Zune juggernaut breaks into more DRM, NBC hot to trot

How do you make the Zune better? Well, naturally you add the ability for it to police your content for anything pirated. What's so wrong with that? You shouldn't be pirating music or videos, has the RIAA not taught you anything!?!

The story goes that NBC abandoned ship because of Apples tight leash on pricing and their unwillingness to police pirated material. Apparently Microsoft is okay with NBC selling their content for the same price as Apple would have just as long as Microsoft absorbs the difference in cost between that price and the price NBC wants to sell it for. Lets look at that for a moment. If Apple was going to sell an episode of Heroes for $1.99, and NBC wanted to sell that same episode for $6.99 then Microsoft is basically paying NBC $5.00 for each download. I really can't imagine why Apple wouldn't want to do that . . . seems like a GREAT business deal.

As if that decision wasn't confusing enough, Microsoft is working on what I can only assume will be an update to it's desktop software, to detect bootleg media and disallow it from being transfered to the device.

My question: How does it know? This is the age old question of the thermos. The thermos keeps hot stuff hot and cold stuff cold . . . but how does it know? When I go out and purchase a DVD and use good old handbrake to make a legitimate backup how is the software going to recognize this as being legitimate and allow me to put it on my Zune (DISCLAIMER: I don't have a Zune, don't want a Zune, and this whole thing seems like a giant disaster)?

As you can see the move to police your library raises all kinds of concerns. I don't see how this approach really sells more of anything for Microsoft. It seems like they're going to lose money on each download AND push the Zune in a less desirable direction (as if poop brown wasn't enough). I think I'll just keep my iPod.

Free NBC shows on the iPhone.. What is NBC Thinking?

In a somewhat under-reported development (we're doing our part) Gizmodo announced that full episodes of "30 Rock" and "The Office" are now available for streaming on the iPhone (and iPod touch) for free. Without ads. If you want to give it a try, just head to nbc.com on the iPhone, and you'll be re-directed to the iPhone site, then click on the videos tab.

Bear in mind this is the same NBC that pulled its catalog from the iTunes Music Store, and also just signed an agreement to bring the content to the Zune for a price. The video, by the way, looks bad. As in worse than Youtube bad, and there seem to be severe issues with audio sync. You get what you pay for, I suppose. The question is, why would you pull your catalog of content that people were happy to give you money for, then offer it up in free, bad resolution? You're not hurting Apple, as people now have a new (albeit ridiculously small) reason to buy an iPhone, and not pay for your content.

The melding of old-school media companies and new technology continues to be a topsy-turvy affair...