Yes, I'm a bit behind the times again. I do apologize. But see, although I've had a 5G iPod for some time now, I've had no desire to download TV shows to it. I prefer to watch TV on my, you know, TV. And if I'm not near a TV, I'm happy enough listening to music on my iPod or doing the old fashioned thing and reading a book.
And yet, when Michael Ian Black announced in an interview that MTV plans to release episodes of "The State" as iTunes downloads instead of going with DVD, I knew I'd eventually give this a try. I needs me $240 worth of pudding, after all. Awwwwwwwwww yeahhhhhhhhhhhh!
The State's not yet on iTunes, but my Seahawks are, and see? That's what makes this useful. With no NFL Network on my cable provider and with the loss of ESPN Prime Time, I have no NFL highlight shows on which to see the mighty Seahawks play. Oh, sure, there are other highlight shows, but these may have Chris Collinsworth or Michael Irvin on them, and what are you going to ask me to do next? Drink glass? No thanks. So, a year's worth of Seahawks highlights was finally enough for me to put some TV on my iPod, and here's how it works:
Step 1: Select Your Show
Launch iTunes and go to the Store, then click on TV Shows either in the tabbed area in the center or the text list on the left. Currently, you can also click on the NFL banner in rotation at the top of the iTunes interface if that's what you're looking for. Whichever method you use, you'll then click on the Network you want to access your show. There are also areas to highlight new shows, featured shows, top TV episodes and seasons, etc., in which you may find the show you're after. You can search by name, too, but I found that to be a bit too messy with the results. However, you get there, click on the icon for your who to pull up details.
Step 2: Add to Cart
The detail screen will have some bit about the show, the usual useless reviews, and more importantly, the purchase button. Depending upon what you're buying, you can either subscribe to a season or just buy individual episodes. In my case, one game's worth of Seahawks highlights is $1.99, while a full season of highlights (16 games...the post season is not included) is $24.99. Buying an episode will place that episode in your shopping cart, which you can download at your convenience. If you purchase a season, all shows currently available can be downloaded the same way, while new shows will be added as they're made available. You can tell iTunes to notify you when new episodes are ready for you to download.
Step 3: Purchase
Obviously, you'll need an iTunes account to do this, but you've already set one up, right? Okay, simply click the Buy button and iTunes will download the show(s) to your computer.
Step 4: Transfer to the iPod
Now, be careful here. There are two ways to do this. You can either use the TV Shows tab to sync your iPod with iTunes, or you can simply click on "TV Shows" in your library list and the drag the shows onto your iPod. If using the former, iTunes may let you know that your iPod is not in sync with iTunes and you can't transfer your shows until you restore your iPod to become so. Take that warning very seriously. It will completely erase your iPod, and set it up to match iTunes. This is not an issue if your iTunes library is exactly what you want on your iPod. If, however, you have songs or Playlists on your iPod that aren't in iTunes, you will lose them. Well, not all of them. When I did this, iTunes told me that some songs purchased from the iTunes Music Store were not in my iTunes library, and it was kind enough to ask if I'd like to download them to my computer before restoring the iPod. That was very nice, but too bad it could only do it with music purchased from Apple.
Step 5: Play, Watch, Delete
To watch your shows, simply select the TV shows category on your iPod, choose your show, and hit Play. Video resolution is now 640x480 instead of 320x240, and although you won't see much of a difference on the iPod, you will if you're using any of the various devices available to view iPod content on your TV. When you're done with a show and you want it off your iPod, you can either simply delete it from within your iPod Devices library in iTunes, or you can do another sync and simply not check any TV shows from your hard drive.
So, there you have TV on the go. And just in time, too. Just before press on this article, I learned that the first season of The State will be available on iTunes this Tuesday, September 26th. You guys watch what you want, but "I'm Doug, and I can't be locked up in a cage like some sort of manimal...I'm outta here!"
