Just In: NBC to Offer Free Ad-supported TV Downloads - sorry mac!

NBC has announced today that they will offer free, ad-supported full downloads of their fall season's most popular shows. Called "NBC Direct," it will allow users to download and view NBC's popular primetime and late-night entertainment programming on their desktops for up to one week after broadcast.

Sorry Mac people, it's only for Windows-based machines. Guess you will need your parallels.

From the NBC release:

The first version of this new feature, which will begin beta testing in October, will allow users to download full length episodes for viewing on Windows based PCs. Each original episode will be licensed to users for viewing through "NBC Direct" for one week following broadcast and will then expire. The downloaded file will provide users with an improved overall viewing experience compared to traditional streaming video.

The list of programs available at launch will include "Heroes," "The Office," "Life," "Bionic Woman," "30 Rock," "Friday Night Lights," "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."Later in the beta launch, users will be provided the free subscription option that will allow them to pre-select their favorite NBC programs they want to watch. Those shows will be automatically delivered to their computers as soon as they are available after the original broadcast. The downloadable player will also have filtering technology, which will prevent it from playing any stolen copyrighted material.