NBC’s NBC Direct download video service has gone through two maligned iterations, and now, as a tipster has pointed out to us, the peacock has quietly launched round three. NBC confirmed for us that the new version is out, but wouldn’t provide any further details.

NBC Direct is still PC-only, so we haven’t had a chance to download it for ourselves, but our tipster tells us that it’s gone through a pretty big overhaul, replacing much of the stack, including the Microsoft DRM that made installation such a bear the last go-round.
We’re scratching our heads as to why NBC still bothers with this download service when it offers streaming through its own site as well as through Hulu. If I’m on a plane or some other place with no Internet connection, I can’t imagine it would be worth the hassle of installing the app just to watch that episode of The Office I missed the night before. Hopefully NBC will give us some indication soon.
Have you tried the new version? Do you want to? Leave a comment and let us know.
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