We've been covering the spat between Apple and NBC over the pricing of TV programmes on iTunes, and how NBC hopes Hulu and Amazon will mean it doesn't need iTunes (below). So I was just looking at Amazon Unbox -- where NBC appeared a couple of weeks ago, alongside the BBC, Fox, CBS etc -- and all the shows still seem to be priced at $1.99, for US users.
That includes the NBC series, Heroes, The Office, and 30 Rock.
In other words, Amazon's flexible Unbox pricing is currently identical to the iTunes Store's inflexible $1.99 flat rate.
Another advantage of Unbox is that, like other Microsoft-based online services, it allows for rentals as well as purchases. For example, you can rent the 300 movie for 99 cents, buy the download for $14.99 or buy the DVD for $22.99. However, I can't actually see any NBC TV programmes that are offered for rent.
It's early days, of course, and things may change.
The bad news for Mac users is that Amazon Unbox uses its own player, which requires 32-bit Windows XP, or a TiVo. And although downloads will play on a portable player such as the Creative Zen Vision M, they are not designed for iPods.
