NBC stopped selling its new shows, including "The Office," on Apple Inc.'s iTunes this year because of pricing and copyright issues.
(NBC)
NBC looks for ways to put its shows online profitably
NBC stopped selling its new shows, including "The Office," on Apple Inc.'s iTunes this year because of pricing and copyright issues.
(NBC)
NEW YORK - NBC Universal is trying to find profitable ways to make its TV programs available online after discontinuing sales of new shows on Apple Inc.'s iTunes, chief executive Jeffrey Zucker said.
NBC yesterday started testing Hulu, its online video joint venture with News Corp. The website is an experiment for NBC, along with NBC.com, Zucker said at an event in New York.
It's "virtually impossible" for the TV industry to find prime time hits as more people watch shows on the Web or use digital video recording devices, Zucker said. NBC said in August it would stop selling new shows on iTunes because of price and copyright issues. The network got about $15 million from iTunes last year after its shows made up some 40 percent of TV downloads, he said.
"We are at an inflection point," Zucker said. "We don't want to replace dollars with pennies on the digital side."
Fairfield, Conn.-based General Electric Co., which owns NBC, rose 18 cents to $40.56 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have gained 9 percent this year.
NBC Universal agreed this month to buy Oxygen Media, the cable-television network cofounded by Oprah Winfrey, for $925 million and plans to spend the next year integrating it. No other acquisitions are planned, Zucker said.
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
