NBC Programs Now On iTunes

The lineup of available prime-time shows includes "Law & Order," "The Office" and "Surface." Classic TV programs and late-night shows are also being offered.

NBC Universal on Tuesday started selling primetime and classic TV shows through Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes store, joining ABC in making network video entertainment available through Apple's content delivery system for a computer or the popular iPod portable player.

The lineup of available prime-time shows includes "Law & Order," "The Office" and "Surface." NBC Universal will also offer late-night programming with "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" and "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," as well as classic TV shows "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "Dragnet," "Adam-12," and "Knight Rider."

Current shows are available the day after they air on TV. All the programs are sold in a designated area of the iTunes store featuring the NBC Universal brands, including the NBC network, Sci-Fi Channel, and the USA Network.

Television shows, as well as music videos and short films, are sold on iTunes for $1.99 each. Songs are available for 99 cents apiece.

The addition of NBC programming ups to 16 the number of TV shows available on iTunes. Since the debut of video on Oct. 12, Apple has sold more than 3 million videos through iTunes. Apple started offering video online the same day it launched the video iPod.

In agreeing to offer programming on the Web, TV networks are bowing to the increasing pressure of the Internet, which is becoming a major distribution channel for entertainment. Where networks in the past were wary of the Internet, they are now embracing it.

"We are committed to helping viewers enjoy the wide breadth of our programs across an equally wide range of devices and distribution models," Bob Wright, vice chairman of General Electric Co. and chairman and chief executive of NBC Universal, said in a statement. "Apple has developed a distribution platform that is attractive to consumers while at the same time providing the safeguards against theft that are so important to us and to every content provider."

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