General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE)’s NBC is unlikely to join rivals Fox and ABC in serving up $0.99 TV show rentals to Apple TV users for $0.99 through the iTunes store later in the year, said NBC Universal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker at an investor conference hosted by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (NYSE: GS) on Wednesday.
“We do not think 99 cents is the right price point for our content,” said Zucker. “We thought it would devalue our content.”
NBC is currently offering customers on iTunes the ability to purchase its shows for $1.99, but the company has not signed on to Apple’s new pricing model of allowing TV show rentals for $0.99, which Apple announced earlier in the month at the same time it launched a revised Apple TV set-top box.
NBC has a history of disagreeing with Apple over pricing of digital downloads in the iTunes Store. NBC pulled its video library from iTunes after Apple wouldn’t agree to a 100% increase in the wholesale price of each show. Zucker had also previously accused Apple of destroying music pricing and told colleagues to take a stand against the iTunes store, saying that it was undermining the ability for media companies to make profit from their content. Eventually, NBC caved into the iTunes store and began selling SD content at $1.99 per episode and HD content at $2.99 per episode.
General Electric Company (GE) is a diversified technology, media and financial services company. The Company’s products and services include aircraft engines, power generation, water processing, security technology, medical imaging, business and consumer financing, media content and industrial products. The Company serves customers in more than 100 countries. The Company operates through five segments: Energy Infrastructure, Technology Infrastructure, NBC Universal (NBCU), Capital Finance and Consumer & Industrial. In March 2009, Teleflex Incorporated completed the sale of its 51% share of Airfoil Technologies International – Singapore Pte. Ltd., to GE. In September 2009, the Company sold its 81% interest in Homeland Protection business to Safran SA. In September 2009, the Company acquired ScanWind. In September 2009, Moog Inc. completed the acquisition of the Company’s GE Aviation Systems’ flight control actuation business. In November 2009, GE Aviation acquired Naverus, Inc.
Shares of General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) traded down 0.12% during mid-day trading on Wednesday.
