How NBC Killed “The Office”
The Office, one of my favorite TV shows, will likely be canceled after this next season. The reason? NBC has decided to end it’s contract with Apple’s iTunes Store and start it’s own media distribution service where they can charge their preferred price of $4.99 per episode. This stunt will hurt, as well as continue NBC’s poor viewer numbers.
The Office has always received low ratings when it came to TV viewers, but if you’re an iTunes user you’d know differently. During the last season of The Office, at least three (0f the ten) “Top TV Episodes” were The Office. After every (tv) Office premier the episode would then be number one in the iTunes Store. The reasoning for NBC’s move is somewhat confusing seeing the success they’ve had with the iTunes marketplace, but it truly comes down to money.
Currently, The Office holds twenty spots on the Top 100 episodes on iTunes. That’s amazing seeing they are previous seasons. Another popular show, Heroes, also holds twelves spots on the list making NBC a predominant content distributor in the iTunes Store.
Low Rated shows like The Office, Scrubs, and Thirty Rock saw hit numbers in the iTunes Store, but with NBC newest project we will likely see them canceled within the next season. The iTunes Store is the best place to sell content because it pulls in the millions of iPod users that are willing to pay for great content. Setting up a website from scratch, charging double iTunes prices, and ending all other contracts is, in my opinion, they way to kill a network.
BTW- With the upcoming video-playing iPod Nano’s coming, the video portion of iTunes will be even more popular.
September 3rd, 2007 at 1:09 pm
Amen.
RIP The Office, My Name is Earl, Heroes, etc etc
But it’s all an inevitable part of the death of network television. Eventually we’ll get great shows like The Office that exist only within the Tubez.
September 3rd, 2007 at 1:50 pm
I guess NBC is just getting ready for the future, where they’re still in fourth place, but now on the internet.
September 3rd, 2007 at 8:18 pm
TV existed before the Apple Store and it will continue to exist afterwards. The people buying shows off of iTunes aren’t going to pose much of a threat to the shows on TV. The Office is a good show and people will keep watching it as long as it stays funny.
September 4th, 2007 at 3:20 am
Well, I was actually going to get Heroes through the iTunes store, as it is my only means since I am in Japan. They jacked that plan up pretty bad. The Office is my favorite show, and the only show that STAYS in my iPod. For US based iTunes users, it may not be a big deal, but they just got iTunes Tv Shows in the UK. Thats one market NBC won’t be tapping into.
September 4th, 2007 at 6:55 am
Really dumb move in my opinion, surely they will lose out on money they could have made by sticking with itunes simply by the decreased amount of purchases due to larger prices and smaller/less powerfull video downloading service.
September 11th, 2007 at 9:01 pm
Who in the hell is gonna pay $5 for an episode of a TV show?
September 12th, 2007 at 4:29 am
Honestly it seems as though you’re jumping to conclusions. Your article sites no source hinting at any possibility that this is “likely” to happen. At this point, you should consider adding quotes or links to articles that back up your argument or retract it altogether.
September 18th, 2007 at 5:46 pm
You seem to overestimate the importance of iTunes sales. The Office had three of the top ten, with about five or six sales each. Almost no one actually buys shows from iTunes.
October 1st, 2007 at 4:41 pm
people in my personal experience have lives that do not revolve around tv.
and iTunes is doing a great job at keeping me up to date on the newest episodes of the office and other shows that i miss.
tv did exist before iTunes, and it’ll be around after.