NBC Direct, the free service from NBC that lets you download full episodes of The Office, 30 Rock, Scrubs, Heroes and more, has gone live on the NBC site.
Currently in beta, and originally scheduled to launch in October, the new video viewing service allows you to download the latest episodes of NBC shows directly to your computer for viewing in a special player. Getting set up to do this is rather annoying. First off, it's Internet Explorer only, then once you download the player, if you don't have the latest .NET framework, you'll be downloading that also. Next: Windows Media needed a security update on top of it all. On a Mac? Sorry, can't help. Outside of the US? You're out of luck too.
Once you've jumped through all of their hoops, you can start choosing videos to download. All episodes are available for only seven days after they initially air, and once you start watching your video you only have 48 hours to view it before it deletes. You can choose to subscribe to your favorite shows so you'll get the new episodes automatically each week. All the shows contain video ads which cannot be skipped.
Since this currently only works on Windows machines, and downloads to mobile devices haven't arrived yet, there doesn't seem to be much point to the venture, except for watching while offline - remember that NBC already lets you watch many shows online. They seem to be hedging their bets, too: NBC is distributing its shows through Hulu, the partnership with News Corp that's getting good reviews. What's more, you have to wonder whether it's wise to launch such a service in the middle of a writer's strike.
All in all, a thumbs down for NBC Direct.
See also: NBC to Offer Free Downloads of Popular Shows
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The shows with full episodes in the system are:
30 Rock
Bionic Woman
Chuck
Friday Night Lights
Heroes
Las Vegas
Late Night With Conan O'Brien
Life
The Office
Passions
Phenomenon
Scrubs
The Tonight Show With Jay Leno
Shows with 2-minute replays:
30 Rock
America's Got Talent
The Biggest Loser
Chuck
ER
Heroes
Last Comic Standing
My Name Is Earl
The Office
Scrubs
Web exclusives:
Coastal Dreams
Jay Leno's Garage
The Office Deleted Scenes
SNL Backstage
Pale Force
Karma Cam