Plans to eventually transform the service into a model similar to iTunes by the middle of 2008.NBC has announced plans for embarking on a bold new intuitive in which it finally acknowledges that people are increasingly moving away from traditional television viewing patterns. More and more people want to consume television programming on their own terms -- at a place and time of their own choosing. As a result, NBC has decided to begin allowing people to download TV episodes using a new service it plans to call "NBC Direct." It will allow users to download a TV show for up to a week after the show has aired on broadcast TV, for 7 days from this date it will automatically delete itself. The only real drawback is that the video file will contain embedded ads that supposedly can't be skipped. A test version of the new service will launch in October and will eventually be expanded in coming months to let users subscribe to shows and download them automatically. By the end of the year NBC also promises to allow viewers to also transfer content to a portable media player or a MAC. NBC intends to transform the service into a model similar to iTunes by the middle of 2008 where consumers “We did this to eliminate the middleman,” said Jeff Gaspin, the president of NBC’s digital division. “With the creation of this new service, we are acknowledging that now, more than ever, viewers want to be in control of how, when and where they consume their favorite entertainment,” said Vivi Zigler, the executive vice president of NBC Digital Entertainment. “Not only does this feature give them more control, but it also gives them a higher quality video experience.” HDTV shows will eventually be available using P2P technology, which is surprising to hear since it once blamed P2P for robbing the poor corn farmers of this country. In another odd twist, it reportedly will use a "...special software player with filtering technology that will prevent users from playing illegally downloaded videos." How they plan to do this isn't clear, but it will probably involve Windows Media DRM. It certainly can't affect playback of videos obtained elsewhere and viewed using a different media player. If it is somehow capable of this then you can certainly kiss NBC Direct goodbye. The main demographic of people who would use NBC Direct are fairly tech savvy and don't like being meddled with. Watching an ad or two is fine, but if it begins meddling with other PC operations and media playback then "fuggedaboutit." The reason NBC left iTunes a while back was supposedly over content pricing, and I'm still not convinced that it cares about anything less. If it was so adamant that TV episode prices increase to a startling $4.99 with Apple doing all the work of marketing and distribution really, this plus having a built-in customer base with iPods ready to go, will NBC want to eventually charge similar prices? The temptation may be too great, and the knowledge of such a folly seems to be absent. If done right NBC Direct could be a hit. Viewers won't mind watching a few ads if it means getting content on-demand. Aside from this, I think most won't be willing to pay the per episode fee that it plans to eventually charge unless one gets to keep the content permanently. Looking for more stuff to watch or download?NBC Says that P2P is Robbing Poor Corn FarmersiTunes to Stop Selling NBC Television Shows
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I like the 'supposedly' part :D
It will only be a matter of time, nothing is unskippable but death and taxes... :P