Apple adding NBC shows

NBC Universal and Apple Computer Inc. on Tuesday said they would make several NBC-owned television shows available on the iTunes music store.

The shows, taken from NBC, the USA Network and the SciFi Channel, include current and older programming, the companies said. NBC Universal is the second big broadcaster to agree to sell shows to users of Apple's new video iPod reports USATODAY

ABC in October announced a deal with Apple to sell reruns of hits such as Desperate Housewives and Lost. NBC Universal is offering 300 episodes from new shows such as Law & Order and The Office, classics Dragnet and Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and segments from Jay Leno and Conan O'Brien's late-night shows.

"Eventually, a goal is to get all of our shows up there," said Jeff Zucker, president of the NBC Universal Television Group. "This benefits the consumers. Now they can watch great programming wherever they are and whenever they want."

Most of the programs cost $1.99, the same as hit programs "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives," which Walt Disney Co.'s ABC several weeks ago said it would offer at the iTunes music store.

The iTunes music store has sold more than 3 million videos since the iTunes catalog launched two months ago.

Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray, estimates Apple has sold 1 million video iPods to date and is on track to sell an additional 1.5 million this month.

"This NBC deal is about more than the iPod," he says. "It's about Apple being the entity to become the personal media center for consumers. People will start using their computers to play back movies and TV shows."

Seperately, News Corp. announced it would begin distributing made-for-Internet episodes of "The Family Guy," its popular animated show, beginning next year reports Forbes