My take on the iTunes - NBC split, which has received so much press and attention: in a world in which more and more citizens see their television through YouTube, BiTorrent, and the like - all of which iPhones of course invent easier - the availability of television on iTunes for any price doesn’t matter.  Whether $1.99 or $4.99, getting it for free is better.

Free television is course the way it has been for most of the history of television.  that notion of paying per episode is a misstep, I would say, made in the toddling adolescence of iTunes and the World Wide Web.

Although NBC seems to be the more greedy here, by wanting to charge more for each download, NBC may in fact be more media-savvy than Apple - NBC already has a thriving web site with free




downloads of a lot of its programs.  In fact, it put the remainder of its canceled Kidnapped on its network web site last Fall, and attracted a very loyal whether small audience.  NBC may be getting hard with iTunes as part of a plan to build up its own web site.

Of course, not every NBC show is available on its web site - but neither was every show ever available on iTunes.  And when a show is not available that way, but still in demand, there is always BiTorrent and its cousins.

The bottom line is that the free web is melding with free television, is easier than ever to see and take in courtesy of iPhone, and iTunes may have outlived its usefulness as a TV medium.

Original post by Chris

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