TVSquad

Variety is reporting that a complicated deal between Disney and NBC is nearing completion, which would make Scrubs part of the growing iTunes family. Why Disney? Well, Disney owns Touchstone Television, which produces Scrubs. But NBC buys it. The two entities have reportedly agreed to a 50-50 split of profits off downloaded episodes of Scrubs.

If it does enter iTunes, which Variety says will happen later this month, it will be the first program available for download that is not produced by corporate cousins. For example, Disney-owned Touchstone produces Desperate Housewives and Lost for Disney-owned ABC, while NBC Universal produces The Office for NBC. That's why the networks were able to get those shows on iTunes quickly. Fewer cooks in the kitchen. This also explains why we haven't seen My Name is Earl on iTunes yet. It's actually produced by FOX. Hopefully the Scrubs deal with Touchstone and NBC will create a template for other, similar agreements to get more content on iTunes.