“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.
Advertisements:
• Apple’s brand new iPod Hi-Fi speaker system. Home stereo. Reinvented. Available now for $349 with free shipping.
• Apple’s new Mac mini. Intel Core, up to 4 times faster. Starting at just $599. Free shipping.
• MacBook Pro. The first Mac notebook built upon Intel Core Duo with iLife ’06, Front Row and built-in iSight. Starting at $1999. Free shipping.
• iMac. Twice as amazing — Intel Core Duo, iLife ’06, Front Row media experience, Apple Remote, built-in iSight. Starting at $1299. Free shipping.
• iPod Radio Remote. Listen to FM radio on your iPod and control everything with a convenient wired remote. Just $49.
• iPod. 15,000 songs. 25,000 photos. 150 hours of video. The new iPod. 30GB and 60GB models start at just $299. Free shipping.
• Connect iPod to your television set with the iPod AV Cable. Just $19.
Related article:
Disney to stream ‘Desperate Housewives’ and ‘Lost’ for free with embedded ads – April 10, 2006