NBC wanted cut of iPod revenues
Cory Bergman October 29th, 2007
When Apple wouldn’t go for NBC’s proposed $2.99 a download for its shows on iTunes, NBC CEO Jeff Zucker suggested they give up a cut of iPod sales. “Apple sold millions of dollars worth of hardware off the back of our content and made a lot of money,” Zucker said. “They did not want to share in what they were making off the hardware or allow us to adjust pricing.” Hmmm, no wonder the negotiations blew up. “NBC’s Jeff Zucker has got serious stones,” blogs CNET’s Tom Krazit.
5 Comments Add your own
1. Steve Safran | October 29th, 2007 at 5:05 pm
Odd. They never asked Sony for a cut of television set sales.
2. News Consumer | October 29th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
Funny, I didn’t hear Zucker demanding a dollar for every TV Sony sells or for every DVD player from Toshiba. Demands like that just make the media companies look grossly greedy.
I sympathize with their desire to set the prices for their own products, but to blame Apple for their own problems just doesn’t cut it. They’ve used radio and television to essentially distribute their products for free for 50+ years, now they have to convince people to buy it. That’s not an easy assignment.
Charging more for something people perceive as having little or no long term value ain’t gonna help. If companies want flexible pricing, why don’t they start by lowering the price of lesser content? Selling old shows for 99 cents now might make it more palitable to sell newer stuff for 2.99 in a year or so.
3. Kid3 | October 29th, 2007 at 5:34 pm
For many years, NBC was used as a vehicle for RCA to sell consumer electronics.
4. Anonymous | October 29th, 2007 at 9:35 pm
Funny, I always thought ego size was *inversely* related to testicle size.
5. Dan | October 29th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
He was always described as some kind of genius
in his Today Show producing days. Now he looks like a
idiot. What is his big example of one industry that gave
another industry money because one made money
for the other one? Electric utility companies should
pay light bulb makers because without light bulbs
no one would need electricity? I mean, really now.
How long before the board sees this guy as sending
their company down the wrong road?
Dan
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