Sept. 4 (Bloomberg) -- NBC Universal, General Electric Co.'s entertainment division, began selling television shows for download at Amazon.com Inc., days after ending a similar agreement with Apple Inc.

NBC shows available on Amazon Unbox include ``The Office,'' ``Heroes'' and ``30 Rock.'' Starting Sept. 10, Amazon Unbox customers can download for free the pilot episodes of new NBC shows before they air on television, NBC and Amazon, the world's largest online retailer, said today in a statement.

The network said last week it would stop selling ``Law & Order'' and other shows on Cupertino, California-based Apple's iTunes after the companies failed to agree on prices. Apple claimed NBC wanted to double its wholesale prices. The network said it sought pricing flexibility and packaging options.

``Amazon is somebody who understands the wholesale-retail relationships and understands the need for wholesalers to price their content flexibly,'' Jean-Briac Perrette, president of NBC Universal Digital Distribution, said in an interview.

The network is seeking multiple online outlets for its shows and movies. Last week NBC unveiled a Web-based network for films and TV shows called Hulu that it plans to start in October with Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.

The project, made public in March, aims to compete with online video sites such as Google Inc.'s YouTube.

General Electric, based in Fairfield, Connecticut, rose 17 cents to $39.04 at 4:21 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. The shares have gained 4.9 percent this year. Seattle-based Amazon gained $2.79, or 3.5 percent, to $82.70 on the Nasdaq Stock Market and has more than doubled.

Day-After Shopping

Regular episodes of NBC shows will be available on Amazon the day after they air on television, the companies said. Prices weren't announced. Customers will be able to download programs to watch on a personal computer or on television through a TiVo Inc. video recorder, the companies said.

ITunes is the largest seller of downloaded music, and was the third-biggest music retailer in the U.S. in the first quarter behind Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Best Buy Co., according to NPD Group Inc., a Port Washington, New York-based researcher.

Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris didn't immediately return a call seeking comment. A call to Amazon's media hotline wasn't immediately returned.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael White in Los Angeles at mwhite8@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: September 4, 2007 20:12 EDT