New York - NBC Universal has announced plans to offer many of its TV shows for free download to PCs for a week following their initial broadcasts.

The NBC Direct service, set to launch in November, will offer shows like "Heroes," "The Office" and "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno."

The service will come with several restrictions.

Downloaded TV shows will only be viewable on Windows-based PCs, and will expire after seven days; users also won't be able to fast-forward through commercials, or transfer them to disk or another computer.

NBC eventually plans to let consumers pay a fee for downloads that could be kept permanently, and transferred to devices like the iPod.

NBC Universal recently opted not to renew a contract with Apple to offer its shows for download from iTunes, and shortly thereafter announced a deal with Amazon to offer its shows on the Unbox service.

The company is also gearing up to launch Hulu, its online video distribution joint venture with News Corp., which will also offer its TV programs, along with movies and video from other partners, for free on a streaming, ad-supported distribution network.

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/2555dw (NBC announcement)

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/20/business/media/20nbc.html