“Walt Disney Co. said Monday that it would stream several hit ABC shows such as ‘Lost’ and ‘Alias’ for free over the Internet in the next two months, as the company tries to jump-start a new revenue stream for its content,” David B. Wilkerson reports for MarketWatch. “Disney said that episodes of ‘Desperate Housewives,’ ‘Lost,’ ‘Commander In Chief’ and the entire current season of ‘Alias’ will be available at its ABC.com Web site for free during May and June, as part of what it called an ‘experiment.'”
“This is the first time a broadcast network has made such programming available for free,” Wilkerson reports. “The shows will be streamed in a 16-by-9 widescreen format in Flash 8, which Disney says offers the ‘best video quality.’ The streams will be compatible with both the PC and Mac platforms. The programs, which will be available the morning after they air on ABC stations, can be rewound, fast-forwarded and paused, but will include commercials that cannot be skipped… With this latest plan, ABC also seems to be sidestepping cable operators, who are making a big bet on video-on-demand as an important part of their arsenal against satellite and phone companies. The network already makes certain programs available on Apple Computer Inc.’s iTunes Internet download service, where they can be downloaded to the iPod digital-media player.”
Full article here.
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Related article:
Disney to stream ‘Desperate Housewives’ and ‘Lost’ for free with embedded ads – April 10, 2006
Many people will enjoy the free aspect, but the lack of portability will cause many to look else where.
Any word yet on whether this service will be available to those living outside the US? Or will it be another case of the rest of the world doesn’t matter…
That seems a fair compromise. And it gives me time in the middle to go and make a cup of tea!
I dunno about you guys, but no commercials is worth $2 to me
” width=”19″ height=”19″ alt=”smile” style=”border:0;” /> course I usually just tivo them and skip the worthless crap
What happened to Quicktime?????
One article I read said that it was US-only, so as to respect already-contracted foreign distribution rights.
Anne Sweeney, Disney VP, was quoted as saying this only works in the US because Disney is vertically-integrated for these shows; they own the production studio, broadcast channel, and web site.
Yeah! What Eric The Red said. Flash sux.
I bet the real reason for using Flash8 is because they think it’s better to ensure that the stream will not be copied or saved.
free and able to ff through the commercials…sounds pretty good…interested to see how good it looks. One step closer to getting rid of my $45/month Comcrap TV bill
>> I bet the real reason for using Flash8 is because they think it’s better to ensure that the stream will not be copied or saved. <<
Except by those with screen capture utilities, like Snapz, or other extraction tools.
>> free and able to ff through the commercials <<
You better read that again.
Flash video is the way to go. I am liking that more and more when making video for the web. (Adobe owns Flash.)
No Quicktime, though?….Good thing Apple has an insider at Disney….LOL.
Hmmm, Flash 8. Not Quicktime or WMP.
Well all we have to do is use SnapZ Pro X and screen record the show into Quicktime and edit it using QT Pro.
Steve Jobs must be howling right now.
Eric the Flash format is all about the embedded commercials. If they used Quicktime i’m pretty sure they’d be skippable. I could be wrong about this, but most quicktime files can be hacked to play in the player so that the fast forward button can be used. The same is true for most WMA files.
I like the use of Flash if only to insure cross platform compatibility. Windows Media 10 on websites drives me batty.
Steve Jobs at Disney is like cable tv pioneer Ted Turner was at AOL/Time Warner after CNN was bought out.
Ineffectual and under corporate control.
WMV, not WMA
Still no info on the resolutions for the videos. We know these shows will be 16:9 aspect ratio, but will they be HDTV 720p or 1080i? Or will they be 16×9 in 480i or lower resolution?
who knows how this will play out, but I know that I’m perfectly happy to pay $2 to have files that are devoid of mindless proctor & gamble ads.
and while we’re on the subject… can’t see myself paying $20 for a new movie (on itunes, movielink, or anywhere – netflix has already set the value poroposition in this area, 10-20 movies per month for a similar price point)
Go Macromedia! Er…. Adobe!
I am perfectly happy never to spend $2 to download something that I will look at once, then let it take up space somewhere on my computer or other device where I will forget about it.
With this system Disney is experimenting with, one can view the shows anytime from any computer….for FREE!
Apple should have bought Macromedia when it had the chance. Flash is really getting traction out on the Net.
Meanwhile Apple stock down another $1.31 so far today….
It says that you can fast forward, rewind, and pause but the commercials cannot be skipped. Does that mean that they can be fast forwarded through? It’s a little confusing the way it was worded.
I wonder if we might be seeing the start of a paradigm shift here, where eventually, all TV will come to us through the internet, and providers will merely be hubs using the net for distribution. If that were to happen, schedules and “seasons” could be done away with completely and shows could be made available whenever they’re ready and be viewable any time. Interesting times.
For the person yesterday that said this shows content providers are “moving away” from iTMS. My response was that, this early in the game, it is obvious that the content providers are just trying to determine what works best. From the article:
“Looking for what works
News of the move comes at a time when all of the major U.S. broadcast networks are actively exploring ways to make sure their programming isn’t bypassed, as consumers increasingly embrace on-demand technologies that give them more control over their entertainment.”
Moving away, indeed.
“Well all we have to do is use SnapZ Pro X and screen record the show into Quicktime and edit it using QT Pro.”
And then you have accomplished what exactly? Why not just watch the show and move on with your life?