NBC Announces Free Video Downloads Via NBC Direct

Apparently, NBC Universal cannot wait for the launch of Hulu (its joint venture with News Corp.) to offer its full episodes online to viewers.

Via a press release, NBC has announced that it will be offering its top television shows for users to download up to a week after broadcast. The videos will be ad-supported, which will allow NBC to provide the shows for free. Confirmed shows for the launch include Heroes, The Office, Life, Bionic Woman, 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

The new service, called “NBC Direct,” will launch this fall, coinciding with the new fall season of shows. This news is really starting to make me wonder if Hulu will become a reality, and if either company involved knows what they are doing.

Currently, Hulu is "supposed" to enter private beta in October, which is already later than the previously planned September testing. These delays will only make it harder for Hulu to succeed as the competition gains ground, including Amazon's new Unbox service, which is already offering downloads of several FOX and NBC season premieres for free.

It is interesting to hear that NBC plans to offer shows for free download, considering the recent news that it would be pulling content off iTunes due to disagreements on pricing with Apple.

For NBC Direct, ad-supported downloads will be the only option at launch, but future plans call for automatic delivery, download-to-own/rent, and subscription models.

With News Corp. securing rights for shows on MySpace, NBC creating its own video-on-demand service, and both entering deals with Amazon, it looks like News Corp. and NBC Universal are making sure they have backup strategies in place if Hulu fails. After all, no one is really expecting a joint venture between two competing companies to last very long.