NBC Universal adds content to Fanfare

SanDisk service connects Internet to TV

By Ned Randolph -- Video Business, 12/11/2007

DEC. 11 | NBC Universal will make available TV shows from its various networks, including NBC, USA Network and Bravo, as well as vintage shows from its library on Fanfare, a new Web-based platform owned by SanDisk.

The service (www.fanfare.com) is programmed to work with SanDisk’s new TakeTV video player, which is a flash memory drive that plugs into a computer’s USB port and stores video files for TV playback through the TakeTV adapter. The TakeTV video player is priced at $99 for 4GB and $150 for 8GB.

Using Fanfare and TakeTV, viewers can download shows from their PC to watch on any TV with an AVI connection. Otherwise, they can watch shows online through their PC.

Fanfare launched a beta version in October with shows from CBS, Showtime, Smithsonian Networks, Jaman.com and The Weather Channel.

NBC Universal will add episodes starting in January from such shows as The Office, Heroes and 30 Rock as well as titles from its other networks. New episodes will be available on Fanfare the day after they broadcast.

The studio already streams shows over the Internet in partnership with Fox on Hulu (www.Hulu.com) and through a number of portals. No longer available through iTunes, the studio’s episodes can be downloaded and purchased through Amazon’s Unbox. This next step offers a way to get NBC-Universal titles from the Internet to the TV.

“Our viewers now have another innovative way to enjoy NBCU’s first-rate broadcast and cable content whenever and wherever they choose with Fanfare and SanDisk’s TakeTV,” said Jean-Briac Perrette, president of NBC Universal Digital Distribution. “SanDisk is taking a leadership position within the consumer electronics industry with its commitment to protecting content, which marks an important advance for TV entertainment in the digital landscape.”

“SanDisk’s partnership with NBCU is significant because it gives us the ability to distribute a wide variety of additional premium hit TV content to consumers via Fanfare,” said Sanjay Mehrotra, SanDisk president and CEO. “SanDisk is committed to providing consumers a vast collection of legitimate content, while protecting the rights of content owners with technology solutions such as watermarking.”

While some Fanfare titles will be ad-supported and free to watch, others will be available for purchase. NBC plans to offer different pricing packages for TV shows, including discounts for multiple episode purchases and entire seasons as well as incentives to purchase a bundle of different TV shows at once.