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NBC offers free, full episodes of ‘The Office’ and ‘30 Rock’ ad-free for Apple iPhone, iPod touch
Thursday, May 08, 2008 - 11:52 AM EDT

"NBC's animus toward iTunes is well-documented. But the corporate rivalry between Apple and NBC U doesn't extend to the iPhone, apparently," Michael Learmonth reports for SIlicon Alley Insider.

"NBC is streaming full episodes of 'The Office' and '30 Rock' to the iPhone [and iPod touch] in unprotected Quicktime format. Without advertising. Go figure," Learmonth reports.

Full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: iPhone and iPod touch users, the direct link to NBC's free content is: http://m.nbc.com/iphone/fullepisodes.shtml. Tested on iPhone and iPod touch. The video quality offered by NBC is, to put it kindly, putrid.

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Reader Feedback: ( = registered)

May 08, 08 - 12:03 pm Comment from: Jocko

They are brain dead!!

May 08, 08 - 12:05 pm Comment from: The Rev

They wanted scalable pricing and they got it, scaled right down to free. Not even ad money.

May 08, 08 - 12:08 pm Comment from: Jamie

wow, that video quality is shit. And the sound is way out of sync.

Better luck next time LOSERS

May 08, 08 - 12:10 pm Comment from: iWill

Yes, the video quality is certainly lacking. The audio lags as well. "The Office" is about the only broadcast show we watch with any regularity, and this is a piss-poor representation of showcased content. Could NBC shoot it self in the foot any better?

(Excuse me while I cut off my nose to spite my face.)


shut eye

May 08, 08 - 12:18 pm Comment from: bon

bizarre.

May 08, 08 - 12:23 pm Comment from: foggydave

It looks so horrid because it's old-fashioned 3GP (pre-iPhone mobile video) format... audio sync is atrocious as well. NBC is just *so* technologically savvy!

May 08, 08 - 12:25 pm Comment from: HMCIV

NBC, I'm utterly speechless.

-H

May 08, 08 - 12:25 pm Comment from: Dev Singh

Just testing the next BIG platform ?
Or maybe, by showing so poor videoquality, they will try to make the iPhone/touch seem like a poor product on video ? (that\s just paranoia I guess) .

But let\s face it, NBC really are suckers. It\s a pity cuz the only show I watch is The Office. So it\s off to mininova.org. = )

May 08, 08 - 12:48 pm Comment from: Brian

They aren't "ad-free". Please update the headline. I just watched part 4 of the last episode, and it led off with a cheesy Toyota commercial.

May 08, 08 - 12:48 pm Comment from: Macaday

Retarded, or worse.

May 08, 08 - 01:01 pm Comment from: ericdano

Putrid, kind of like what the Office has become?

May 08, 08 - 01:06 pm Comment from: ChrisM

Only on MDN can NBC offering free, un-DRM'ed, top tier programming be considered negative (no matter how crappy the quality).

May 08, 08 - 01:15 pm Comment from: yomomma

Hey, remember when The Office was funny?

You won't from these clips.

May 08, 08 - 01:29 pm Comment from: Moo

@ ChrisM,

Surely you jest?

Crap quality, and this is CRAP to the point that it's unwatchable, is MOST DESERVEDLY derided.

Perhaps I should say "Only on MDN can there be posts defending crap"?

I mean, dude? The frigging audio is out of synch!

May 08, 08 - 01:49 pm Comment from: iWill

Go Moo!

May 08, 08 - 02:03 pm Comment from: roger

Okay, so it's rough quality, but what the heck! Better than nothing. Thanks NBC! Good first start.

May 08, 08 - 02:10 pm Comment from: Matrix3

We should all be boycotting this blatant attempt to work around Apple iTunes.

NBC is hoping to show advertisers that they can still get iTune/iPod viewers thru the backdoor.

Think about this, if we they get major viewers directly without Apple/iTunes they will say: See we don't need Apple as the provider. We can work without Apple and still get their viewers.

In fact, this is a sign that they realize they need Apple but are trying to still undermine it.

My important 2 cents - BOYCOTT any NBC-Direct videos!!

May 08, 08 - 02:10 pm Comment from: montex

Meh.

Call me when they stream Battlestar Galactica.

May 08, 08 - 03:20 pm Comment from: James

'We should all be boycotting this blatant attempt to work around Apple iTunes.'

Or sabotage it. Reviews with out of sync audio and the like. Que lástima. What is the world coming to?

May 08, 08 - 05:48 pm Comment from: shifty

Boy, I think I disagree with a lot of you. Although I think they should have worked the quality issues out of this before actually opening up, what a giant step forward for NBC. I mean, I thought the itunes store was not to make money off of the products themselves but to sell ipods. If the video and audio quality can get up to standards, I welcome this mode of tv consumption. And it will sell ipods/iphones.

Just my first reaction thoughts.

May 08, 08 - 09:49 pm Comment from: hsNetworkGuy

Calling Montex:

http://www.hulu.com/battlestar-galactica

May 08, 08 - 10:16 pm Comment from: JC

I'll just record The Office each week with my EyeTV at and export it to my iPhone at full broadcast quality if I want to see it. I don't need some garbage quality stream from NBC, even if it is free.

May 08, 08 - 10:39 pm Comment from: Pete

JC...
Does it realy need to be full broadcast quality for viewing on a small screen (unless you plug into a tv for viewing) Just asking 'cause I've been playing around with downloaded 700(ish)meg avi's and realised they don't need to be 700megs if your only gonna view them on the small screen anyway. Just means you can fit more on the phone/pod.

May 08, 08 - 10:51 pm Comment from: me

"I thought the itunes store was not to make money off of the products themselves but to sell ipods."

The problem is the title is misleading, this service is available to any crap smart phone out there. If people are playing the same video on their free smart phone they got on a contract what motivation are people going to have to buy an iPhone?

May 08, 08 - 10:53 pm Comment from: Big Mac Attack

Wow! That is putrid. I'd rather pay $2 per episode and be able to see people's faces.

May 09, 08 - 02:51 pm Comment from: Spock

Where did The Office go?

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