NBC and Apple Became Friends

After a very public cat-fight resulting in the discontinuation of NBC content on iTunes, the relationship between NBC and Apple seems to be on the mend. Perhaps you recall NBC Universal’s CEO, Jeff Zucker, saying that Steve Jobs and iTunes had “destroyed the music business.” This in retaliation to Apple’s damning press release in which it chided NBC for wanting to more than double the retail price for its per episode downloads, something NBC flatly denied. This morning, the Financial Times is reporting on a kinder and gentler kinship between the media giants. According to the FT, Zucker says, “We’ve said all along that we admire Apple, that we want to be in business with Apple.” He then unexpectedly adds, “We’re great fans of Steve Jobs.” No telling what has caused the turnabout. Perhaps the writers strike gave both parties time to reflect on their mounting lost revenue. Or maybe it’s residual goodwill on the heels of Universal inking an iTunes rental deal. Whatever the case, it will be good to see NBC’s content return to iTunes whenever the strike might end.
Update: The love-in continues over at BusinessWeek where Jobs comments on the NBC Universal situation saying, “We’ll put it back together on the TV thing. Everybody lost. But NBC is a great company, and Apple is a great company.” Get a room you two.