NBC's recent spat with Apple (below and below) continues, with NBC responding (via MarketWatch):
"We never asked to double the wholesale price for our TV shows. In fact, our negotiations were centered on our request for flexibility in wholesale pricing, including the ability to package shows together in ways that could make our content even more attractive for consumers," said Cory Shields, executive vice president of communications for NBC Universal, in a statement.
Apple will lose many of its best-selling programmes, including The Office, Heroes, and Battlestar Galactica. However, NBC hopes to maintain sales of these programs via its own site, Hulu, and Amazon, amongst others.
Hulu is a free (ad supported) video site being set up by NBC and News Corp, so it will also be able to offer Fox programmes such as 24, The Simpsons and House. The Guardian's Andrew Clark reported the plans here on Wednesday.
It's clear that Apple's iTunes Store has plenty of committed users whose loyalty is to the store, like people who shop in Wal-Mart and won't go anywhere else. Against that, there are plenty of users who want, say, The Office, and will happily go to NBC, Amazon or even Hulu to get it.
Under normal circumstances, you'd have to bet on the content provider winning this sort of battle. However, this is not a normal market. Many users are not choosing between different stores, they're choosing whether to download TV programmes for free or pay for them. NBC may not get the prices it wants from iTunes, but at least it gets something.
Update: The text of the NBC statement is now online at Bloomberg.
