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You'll recall NBC's noisy departure from Apple's iTunes store in August. First we heard the problem was that NBC had asked Apple to raise per-episode prices to $2.99. Then, we heard Apple advocated cutting prices to 99 cents a show, arguing that volume would make up for lost profits. Now, NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker reveals he misplayed the negotiations even more than we could have imagined. He asked for a piece of Apple's iPod hardware sales.

"Apple sold millions of dollars worth of hardware off the back of our content and made a lot of money," Zucker is reported to have told The New Yorker's Ken Auletta at a benefit for Syracuse University. "They did not want to share in what they were making off the hardware or allow us to adjust pricing."

Certainly Zucker knew he was going to kill negotiations when he came up with that one. It's likely he meant to, considering Zucker also said NBC only saw $15 million in revenue in last year on iTunes. NBC also probably felt it had Hulu, its online-video joint venture, to fall back on.

But still, asking Steve Jobs for a piece of his precious iPod sales? How do you think Jobs responded to that?