If this is cost feasible then there may be something in the latest news out of Reuters that Walt Disney Co.’s ABC Television will offer some of its most popular shows, such as “Desperate Housewives” and “Lost,” for free on the Internet in a two-month trial.
Yeah, you heard me right, no more paying iTunes to download each episode for $1.99 so you can watch it on that tiny iPod screen of yours. Instead “Commander in Chief” and “Alias” along with “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives” will be available on the Web in May and June, starting the day after they are first broadcast. ABC has found a way to pay for the downloads using the archaic yet effective form of compensation in advertising. Already, advertisers AT&T Inc., Ford Motor Co., Procter & Gamble Co. and Universal Pictures have signed up.
As I am sure you assumed, viewers will not be able to skip over advertisements, which is no big deal and a good way for advertisers to get around the “TiVo Factor”, but viewers will still be able to pause and move around from chapter to chapter. Also, for you soap opera fans, the article goes on to say that Disney will be launching a high-speed Internet channel for soap opera fans, called Soapnetic on April 17 for subscribers to Verizon Communications Corp.’s Internet services.
It looks like this may be the wave of the future, so if you don’t have that computer of yours hooked up to your television yet you may want to get cracking as Anne Sweeney, president of the Disney-ABC television group, told Reuters, “Stay tuned … because this is just the beginning.”
