It recently became public news that NBC and iTunes were splitsville. As expected, it didn’t take long for NBC to move on to a new host for their downloadable video content. It was reported today that Amazon.com’s up-and-coming “Unbox” feature will be the new home for NBC’s TV shows. In an attempt to get people to pry their mouse away from iTunes, the network will be offering some of the pilot episodes of their new series for free on Amazon prior to them airing on TV.
The Office, Heroes, and 30 Rock are currently available on Amazon.com for purchase and download by episode or by season. Heroes episodes, for example, are $1.99 per episode or $36.62 for a “Season Sale,” which would give you every episode of the first season. Or you could just buy the DVD set for a few dollars more. The Unbox option, like iTunes’ downloadable TV shows, is usually more appealing to TV viewers while the actual season is airing. Viewers can purchase episodes they’ve missed or wish to watch again within a day of when the episode aired on television instead of waiting for a rerun or the DVD release. In this case, Heroes is already out on DVD so unless you only want one or two episodes, it would probably make more sense to get the DVD set, which includes special features, commentaries and the unaired pilot episode.
Similar to iTunes, Unbox users can view their purchased episodes from their computers. This requires the user to download and install the Unbox Video Player. What sets Unbox apart from iTunes? In addition to viewing the video content on their computers, TiVo subscribers can purchase many of Amazon Unbox’s listed shows directly from their DVR and watch them on their TV. The downside is that Unbox users will only be able to view their purchased episodes from 2 computers or 2 DVRs. Also, those with video iPods and iPhones wont be able to upload the episodes to their devices as they could with iTunes. So NBC’s shift to Amazon could be good news or bad news, depending on how you’re used to viewing your downloaded videos.
NBC isn’t the only network offering their TV shows on Amazon Unbox. SpikeTV’s Kill Point, USA’s Monk and Psych , Fox’s 24, Bones and Prison Break are also listed on the site, as are many other shows.
Amazon Unbox could turn out to be a decent rival to the hugely popular, iTunes. On September 10th TV viewers will be able to download some of NBC’s pilots for their new series for free. Hopefully they’ll be including Chuck!
