CBS, NBC Get It Wrong On TV Show Downloads: “After the recent announcement by NBC and CBS to sell their own TV shows, it seems people started focusing on the wrong aspect of the story: the price. Sure, both networks are offering their shows (a limited selection of highly-rated shows) at half the price of Apple’s $1.99 offering. But not nearly a big enough deal is being made of the giant asterisk attached to that $0.99 price tag. Here’s the newsflash: you can only buy NBC’s shows if you happen to own a DirecTV Plus DVR (and please, let’s just think about that one: if you own a DVR, why the heck would you BUY a show you’ve cared enough about to record yourself?). And if you’re hot to get your hands on CBS’s roster, you had better be a Comcast subscriber using their On Demand service. In both cases, these networks have short-sightedly chosen a closed ecosystem in which to release their programming. The net result? You won’t be hearing much about how CBS and NBC are doing, because the only sound coming from their deals will be a slightly audible ‘thunk’. Thank goodness Apple got ABC on side; their success will show the way to the other networks.

(Via MacSlash.)