NBC brings full-length episodes to iPad

Hulu's list of potential problems keep piling up.

As the bidding war for the streaming video service continues between Yahoo, Google, Amazon and Dish, NBC has launched a new app bringing full-length episodes of select shows to the iPad.

The app, for now, is an iPad exclusive – but the lure of free episodes of "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," "America's Got Talent" and "Harry's Law" (among others) is a notable one.

The selection of full shows is admittedly a bit small for now, with very little archived content, but NBC is padding that with video clips, photo galleries and recaps to keep people engaged. The big question is how long the network will delay episodes of its fall series, once they begin airing. Will they air the next day – or 8 days later, as Fox is insisting on Hulu.

NBC's not the only company embracing the iPad, of course. Turner properties TBS and TNT also have apps that features full-length episodes of their programming.

Networks might be reticent to embrace the idea of quickly streaming their programming online, fearing it devalues their product, but failing to do so comes with consequences of its own.

When Fox enacted its delay policy for non-paying Hulu viewers, piracy rates on popular shows escalated dramatically.