NBC Universal TV content moves to Amazon Unbox

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews

On August 31st NBC Universal (NBCU) announced it would not renew its video distribution deal with iTunes, after a dispute over pricing. That same day Apple fired back, saying it would pull NBCU content from iTunes prior to the fall season. I speculated at the time that it might have something to do with the new online video joint venture that NBCU and News Corp. have named “Hulu.” It seems, for now, this is not the case.

Today, both Amazon.com and NBC Universal announced that TV content from NBCU will now be available on Amazon Unbox. From the Amazon.com press release:

Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) and NBC Universal today announced that a wealth of quality TV content from NBC Universal is now available on Amazon Unbox (http://unbox.amazon.com), Amazon.com’s digital video download service. Amazon Unbox and NBC Universal are offering customers a variety of content packages, including up to 30 percent off when purchasing full seasons of their favorite TV series.

Popular NBC shows now available on Amazon Unbox include the Emmy(R) Award-winning series The Office, the critically acclaimed drama Heroes, and Emmy(R)-nominated comedy 30 Rock. Beginning on September 10, Amazon Unbox customers can download for free — in advance of their network premieres — the pilot episodes of NBC’s new shows Bionic Woman, Chuck, Journeyman and Life. New episodes will be available on Amazon Unbox the day after they air on TV.

We Say: Universal has teamed with Unbox for some time already for movie releases, so the transition is natural.