NBC Universal said it would soon permit consumers to download many of NBC's most popular programmes free to personal computers and other devices for one week immediately after their broadcasts.

The service, which is set to start in November, comes less than three weeks after NBC Universal said it was pulling its programmes out of the iTunes service. That partnership fell apart because of a dispute over Apple's iTunes pricing policies and what NBC executives said were concerns about lack of piracy protection.

NBC makes many of its popular shows available online in streaming media, which means that fans can watch episodes on their computers. Under the new NBC service, called NBC Direct, consumers will be able to download, for no fee, NBC programmes like “Heroes,” “The Office” and “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” on the night that they are broadcast and keep them for seven days. They would also be able to subscribe to shows, guaranteeing delivery each week.

Categories: Articles, VOD