Disney to offer free TV shows on the Internet
Disney Entertainment has announced that it will offer certain titles in its lineup of popular TV shows on the Internet for free. The two-month trial will involve shows such as Desperate Housewives, Lost, and in the following months, Commander in Chief and Alias, which have cult followings in traditional TV. While Disney already has deals with other online distribution outfits, such as on Apple’s iTunes Store (versions for the iPod video are available for download), the company intends to venture into other revenue and distribution models.
The shows will be available for viewing/downloading on the Web a day after broadcast on the ABC network. Archives will be available, so that viewers can watch past episodes of the shows. However, users might be disappointed with the inclusion of advertisements, which cannot be skipped nor deleted. Also, viewers outside of the US will be unablet to access the shows online due to copyright restrictions–in some countries, Disney either licenses out the rights to some shows to other companies, or do not own the rights to shows that it puts up on its cable and TV networks in the States.
Along the lines of this new venture, Disney is also launching Soapnetic, a high-speed Internet TV service, on April 17th, for Verizon broadband subscribers.
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[…] Related to our earlier post on Disney’s publishing video content online, ABC.com is likewise about to launch a new version of its website, where readers can view shows online. Akin to Disney’s system, ABC will publish its archives, and shows will be available the morning after broadcast. Shows are ad-supported, and users have a choice of plain ‘ol ads or the more interactive ones. A new version of ABC.com will launch April 30, featuring episodes of several popular shows that users can watch online. They’ll be able to pause, fast-forward and rewind — but won’t be able to skip the three built-in ad breaks. They will, however, be able to choose if they want to see a normal video ad, or a more interactive one, like a game. Shows will be available the morning after they’ve aired, and eventually ABC will store archives of episodes so users can watch an entire season. […]
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