Zune Adds TV Downloads

The Zune Marketplace, the online store that accompanies Microsoft’s Zune portable media player, now sells TV programs. The new content, including programs from NBC, which pulled its material from rival Apple’s iTunes service in 2007, was added as part of a broader service and software update that also included new social-networking features and improvements to the PC client software. Microsoft continues to hope that social networking and music discovery features will eventually make Zune the favored alternative to Apple’s iPod, but recent sales figures show little progress toward that goal.

Update to Software, Service

In May 2008, Microsoft released a significant update to the Zune PC client software, device firmware, and Zune Marketplace. The update is available for all four Zune models—the 30GB version introduced in Nov. 2006, and the 4GB, 8GB, and 80GB versions introduced a year later—and includes the following new features.

TV shows. The Zune Marketplace has added more than 800 TV show episodes that users can download to their PCs and Zune devices. Most notably, the Marketplace includes series from NBC, such as “The Office,” “Heroes,” and “30 Rock,” which are not available through Apple’s iTunes; NBC removed its programming from Apple’s service in fall 2007, reportedly because of a dispute over pricing and antipiracy technology. The Zune Marketplace will also feature shows from Comedy Central, MTV, the Sci-Fi Channel, and the Ultimate Fighting Channel (UFC). Shows will cost 160 Microsoft Points per episode, or approximately US$1.99.