It seems the amount of NBC programming available online is about to get bigger, a lot bigger. NBC Universal's 213 affiliate stations have created a partnership to sell local station content on the Internet.
The deal might involve the sale of content over the Yahoo! Inc. portal, but actual details are a bit fuzzy at this time.
The idea of making local content available online is a pretty neat one, especially for news hounds and those who want to check out what's going on in other locales through the eyes of local newscasters and talk show hosts. How popular the idea will be, however, remains to be seen.
The market for local news broadcasts and original content from affiliates most likely is quite small. Since this deal doesn't include the primetime offerings that are currently available on iTunes, its overall impact to the download world will likely be small, but it sure will greatly expand the offerings.
How soon the content will hit the Net or where remains unclear.
Article comments
1 - Bliffle
Hmmm. Maybe the netsworks are losing some of their punch. The longtime local TV channel KRON (4) NBC affiliate is now independent and NBC is on KNTV (11). KRON is going it alone as an independent, and seems to be doing OK (of course, they own one of the few trad VHF frequencies, so they get the benefit of walkby traffic). Certainly their content is superior to the trash typically available on the nets. Many good local programs, including a superb sunday morning coffee klatsche between Phil Matier (good old-time reporter), Willy Brown (astute former mayor) and an interesting guest or two: grownup political program for grownup citizens. They've also produced some fascinating documentaries: I just watched one this morning on the biography of WR Hearst. They seem able to support their budget with a bunch of latenite infomercials and not-too-intrusive primetime commercials. I'm starting to checkin there regularly since my old favorite non-PBS station seems to have switched from the overnight CAS feed to all-chinese all-the-time.