More on the Apple-NBC Mudfight

Analysts are beginning to weigh in on last week’s bombshell announcement that NBC will not renew their contract with Apple to sell television shows in the iTunes Store.

We’ve got three here, all of which are worth reading:

CNET News – NBC, Apple play game of brinkmanship
MediaPost – NBC Bolts From iTunes, Links Up With Amazon
Forbes – The Apple-NBC Battle Won’t Amount To Much

Essentially, the name of the game is control. Both companies want to have more control over episode pricing, bundling packages, promotion, and distribution. NBC wants higher prices, while Apple wants to keep prices lower in order to drive more media sales, which will in turn drive more iPod and iPhone sales. The long view is that we’re still early in the evolution of online and mobile video. So despite the high-profile PR back-and-forth, it doesn’t mean much for most consumers just yet, as online video sales represent a tiny slice of revenue for both Apple and NBC.

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