The soft rebellion against Apple's iTunes continues as The New York Times reports that NBC has decided not to renew its contract with the service. The first major defection from iTunes we reported came from Universal Music which decided to roll out its DRM-free music test with Wal-Mart, Google, Amazon.com, Best Buy, Real Networks' Rhapsody, PureTracks, Passalong Networks and Transworld, but left iTunes out of the fun.
The new move by NBC is likely a result of the launch of Hulu, the new online video venture led by News Corp. and NBC. According to the report, NBC was responsible for 40 percent of iTunes' video store content, so the change is hardly insignificant. If Apple hopes to stop the exodus of content providers to iTunes Apple CEO Steve Jobs will likely have to come up with new incentives that reach beyond the brand's cool factor.
