NBC Shows (Well, Most of Them) Gone from iTunes

Apple and NBC had until the first of the month to work out their public spat over iTunes pricing; looks it didn't happen. Now Mac OS users are out of luck if they want to (legally) download NBC shows.

As several Web sites (including the Unofficial Apple Weblog) have pointed out, Apple has pulled almost all of the last remaining NBC shows from iTunes—and that includes content from NBC-affiliated networks such as Sci-Fi, Bravo, and the USA Network. Shows affected include "Heroes," "The Office," "30 Rock," "Battlestar Galactica," "Top Chef," and "Monk." (I did a little poking around and found that the third season of "Galactica" was still on iTunes—try browsing by genre—but I wouldn't expect it to be around much longer.)

A few NBC shows that aren't actually produced by the network are still—and will continue to be—available on iTunes, including "Chuck," "Journeyman," and "My Name is Earl." Those shows are still around because the production companies involved cut separate deals with Apple; initially, I'd hoped that their continued availability meant that an Apple/NBC deal was still possible, but apparently that was wishful thinking on my part.

So, what does it mean for those want to stream or download "Heroes" from the Web? Windows users are in pretty good shape: you can buy commercial-free NBC shows on Amazon Unbox or download them for free from NBC Direct, although the free downloads come with commercial breaks and expire after a week. Both Mac and Windows users can stream episodes on Hulu.com or NBC.com. But if you want to download episodes to your Mac, your iPod, or your iPhone...no dice, short of downloading illegal copies from sources like BitTorrent. Lame.

Related:
NBC officially removed from the iTunes Store [TUAW.com]