RSSABC's Broadband TV Service to Expand
By Ed Oswald | Published August 4, 2006, 12:32 PM
ABC's broadband video player will make a return this fall, albeit with a few changes, the company told Reuters Friday. Several more programs are planned to be added to those originally featured in the service. While "Alias" and "Commander in Chief" have been cancelled, "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" will remain.
Exactly what shows will be included was not disclosed, however one of the network's comedies and several dramas from ABC's new fall lineup could make an appearance. Also, more commercials will be added, although ABC says the amount in each stream would not increase significantly.
Whereas shows were initially available for two months after their airing, that has been halved to four weeks. The availability remains the same; shows will appear on the service the day after they are telecast.
"Lost" was the most popular stream during the pilot program in May, according to ABC. Over that period, the network delivered more than 5.7 million streams. In comparison, the company has delivered 6 million streams of its shows across iTunes, which includes content from several Disney owned networks other than ABC.
In June, ABC said that viewers of online videos were able to recall information from commercials 87 percent of the time, as opposed to 40 percent for regular television. This is important for the network as it will help to attract advertisers.
If they're going to shove commercials into the downloads, then they shouldn't cost anything to download for us consumers. That's stupid. Greed however will likely win out and they'll charge both the advertisers and the viewers. Why be fair when you can make money? That's the American way after all.
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|Um...
Helps to have a clue, there, bud.
These were free the last time they offered this, and will likely be free again this time.
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|Not a nice thing to say. You have inside info the rest of us don't have? WSJ flip-flopped on their "free" content twice. What's to say ABC can't do the same?
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|Nothing, but you're already throwing them up on the cross when no announcement to that affect has been made.
Kinda pulling the cart before the horse, there, aren't ya?
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|True. But I'll use the same American finger-pointing tactic of saying I was conditioned to expect that by past experience and media hype (lol). Putting carts behind horses is unfair anyway. Why do horses get favorable treatment? :)
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