NBC has inked a deal with Apple to become the second network to sell television shows a la carte on Apple’s online iTunes store. More than 300 episodes from about a dozen prime time, cable, late-night and classic TV shows are now available for $1.99 apiece, viewable on computers or downloadable on the latest, video-capable iPod.
The programming spans from the 1950s to the present, including shows from “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” “Dragnet,” USA Network’s “Monk,” the Sci-Fi Channel’s “Battlestar Galactica,” and NBC’s hit series “Law & Order.” Sketches from “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” and “Late Night with Conan O’Brien” are also for sale.
I’m guessing that’s the toe-in-the-water list and we’ll quickly see last night’s stuff on iTunes in the morning. One more example of that Long Tail. Those programs were just gathering dust and now they’ll generate dollars.
Long-time farm broadcaster Jerry Passer was working at WMT-TV in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, in the mid-70’s, when a young Mary Hart came over from South Dakota to do feature segments for the midday news-farm show. Jerry recalls those million dollar gams looked great in the mini-skirts that were popular at the time. 
This week’s BWNG is a…melange of brushes with near greatness. As a long-time radio guy, Jeff has met, interviewed or passed on the street…a lot of famous (or once-famous) people. He sat down in the BWNG studios armed with a long list of brushes and we didn’t get to them all.