Print this article  |  E-mail this article  |  Comment on this article

ABC Streams 3 Million TV Episodes

By BetaNews Staff, BetaNews

May 19, 2006, 5:19 PM

ABC's plans to bring some of its popular prime time television shows to the Internet for free viewing 12 hours after they air seems to be paying off. Disney CEO Bob Iger told attendees of a Boston College CEO luncheon Thursday that the company had already streamed episodes of "Lost," "Desperate Housewives," "Commander in Chief," and "Alias" over three million times since its launch two weeks ago.

All episodes begin with a 10-second spot from a selected advertiser, and then three more commercials air throughout the program. Iger said that the company would continue experimenting with various business models, and was looking into expanding the service. However, he did not say if the service would be extended beyond its two-month trial run. ABC also offers shows through iTunes for $1.99, and the company has considered charging for its streaming service, Iger disclosed.

Add a Comment (7 Comments)

BetaNews reserves the right to remove any comment at any time for any reason. Please keep your responses appropriate and on topic. Foul language and personal attacks will not be tolerated.

Name (required):

E-mail (required):

Enter Your Comment:

By Lotheric

posted May 19, 2006 - 5:50 PM

only available if you're in the usa

Score: 0

By pafinator11

posted May 19, 2006 - 9:45 PM

if you speak english then cant you just go to the american ABC website and watch it like that?

Score: 0

By Lotheric

posted May 20, 2006 - 4:10 AM

only if you use a proxy

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted May 20, 2006 - 1:11 PM

So...

Available outside the US if you speck english, and have a brain?

Doesn't sound too bad, then.

Score: 0

By templar™

posted May 20, 2006 - 8:03 PM

Actually, after using proxy the speed is normally too slow to be able to watch comfortably. :)

Score: 0

By PC_Tool

posted May 21, 2006 - 12:25 AM

Crappy proxy?

'sides, it was a joke. :P

Score: 0

By templar™

posted May 21, 2006 - 11:13 AM

oops. sorry. didnt get that one. lol

Score: 0

Nov 21 - 6:51 PM ET Coalition urges better laws for e-mail and cell phone privacy

Nov 21 - 6:42 PM ET How is Internet advertising faring in this bad economy?

Nov 21 - 6:15 PM ET From out of the Amazon Cloud, an AWS winner emerges

Nov 21 - 5:20 PM ET Mufin music finder enters public beta, adds widgets

Nov 21 - 5:01 PM ET Google launches its SearchWiki semantics plug-in

Nov 21 - 4:57 PM ET Asus previews a slimmer, less costly Eee PC

Nov 21 - 4:32 PM ET New Adobe Media Player ushers in AIR 1.5

Nov 21 - 2:11 PM ET AT&T to add Pantech's low-cost C630 phone to 3G lineup

Nov 21 - 1:11 PM ET iPhone gets firmware 2.2 update

Nov 21 - 11:51 AM ET The Dell surprise: Higher earnings on lower revenue