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Bleeding Edge

by Carlo Longino

Mon, Apr 10th 2006 10:13am





ABC Leads The Ad-Supported Way

from the desperate-lost-grey-housewives dept

Last month, ABC said it planned to offer ad-supported versions of its shows on its web site, and it's now offering more details: a new version of ABC.com will launch April 30, featuring episodes of several popular shows that users can watch online. They'll be able to pause, fast-forward and rewind -- but won't be able to skip the three built-in ad breaks. They will, however, be able to choose if they want to see a normal video ad, or a more interactive one, like a game. Shows will be available the morning after they've aired, and eventually ABC will store archives of episodes so users can watch an entire season. This sounds like a pretty solid plan (despite some miggling faults), and ABC deserves some kudos for being the first to step into the breach. Of course, some stakeholders will get upset, like retailers concerned about the service undermining DVD sales. But those worries are unfounded. ABC is just grabbing the low-hanging fruit, essentially translating their broadcast content to the web. By adding additional services -- like the removal of ads on DVD versions, or formatting the content for portable devices -- there's still a market for paid content. What ABC is doing, and rightly so, is offering consumers the choice of how they want to receive content, and how it should be paid for, either by purchase, or by advertising.

16 Comments | Leave a Comment

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  1.  
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    Randdickson, Apr 10th, 2006 @ 11:47am

    Sounds reasonable ....

    but I wonder if the content will be universally available to all users regardless of operating system or if it will be 'Windows Media Player 9 ..etc etc.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  2.  
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    Nick Threlkeld, Apr 10th, 2006 @ 11:48am

    THIS IS CRAP

    I cannot believe you typed this. I am horrified and disgusted. I should go back in time and give your mother a brochure on contraception, idiot. We are all dumber for reading your article.

    Thank you.

    With love,

    Mr. T ^_^

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  3.  
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    Hannah Rhine, Apr 10th, 2006 @ 11:52am

    Sounds irrational...

    like omg, wat the heck is like, wrong, with this like, article???

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  4.  
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    Kassie Jamison, Apr 10th, 2006 @ 11:54am

    o really?

    sad story!!!!

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  5.  
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    dani, Apr 10th, 2006 @ 11:56am

    Grow up kiddies

    interactive advertising...that sounds like a good idea! Marketers should pay attention to the outcome of that one!

    Are the programs going to stay free? CNN money's coverage says a "two-month trial" of the program.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  6.  
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    anon, Apr 10th, 2006 @ 12:00pm

    Re: Sounds reasonable ....

    If I had to guess, I'd say WMP. On the up side, as long as you legally own a copy of Windows, you can use the codecs on another system. I run Debian at the house (and keep an old Windows XP CD that I bought before I used linux), and have no problem running any video or audio format using VLC or MPlayer and the plugin for Firefox.

    I wish people would go to an open format, but you know what they say: wish in one hand.....

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  7.  
    identicon
    Neal, Apr 10th, 2006 @ 12:00pm

    Lead the Way

    This is great! In my area ABC comes in like crap and I don't feel I need to buy cable or dish for programming that is free. Lost is one of my favorite shows and I wouldn't mind being able to watch it on demand with a few commercials. That will also save me $2 from buying a DRM copy from iTunes.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  8.  
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    jimbo, Apr 10th, 2006 @ 12:30pm

    Flash based video?

    I think they'd probably offer like flash based video, that would allow many platforms to access the content PLUS it would be easy to add in those interactive ads.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  9.  
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    Waste o Space, Apr 10th, 2006 @ 12:45pm

    Good Times, TV sucks

    They are not the first to do this sort of thing, but folks really like their content so it'll get lots of hype.

    I'd say most likely they'll require WMP 10, and have the content DRM protected to force you into thier advertising. But.. Content is one thing, what about delivery and qualtiy? "DVD Quality" is more than bits. and how long with a straight download take for a 1 Gig Episode of a 30 minute show?...

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  10.  
    identicon
    Waste o Space, Apr 10th, 2006 @ 12:45pm

    Good Times, TV sucks

    They are not the first to do this sort of thing, but folks really like their content so it'll get lots of hype.

    I'd say most likely they'll require WMP 10, and have the content DRM protected to force you into thier advertising. But.. Content is one thing, what about delivery and qualtiy? "DVD Quality" is more than bits. and how long with a straight download take for a 1 Gig Episode of a 30 minute show?...

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  11.  
    identicon
    Lee, Apr 10th, 2006 @ 12:54pm

    If I am reading this corrctly, these programs are not going to be "downloaded", you will have to watch from the ABC.com website.
    I could be wrong, but nothing in that article indicates more than "on demand" programming, meaning you can watch it, rewind it, fast-forward it, but you can't "save" it.

    Lee

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  12.  
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    Alex C, Apr 10th, 2006 @ 3:28pm

    I wonder if this content will be available to Europe. I see it as a viable option if the advertising shown is selected according to which country you are in.

    On demand content via the internet and targeted advertising should be the future all together. Shouldn't it?

    This is also gonna reduce the pirated copies found on the net. ABC doesn't really care about selling DVDs if they're getting advertising revenue.

    Besides, timeless shows will be bought on DVD anyway.

    The question is, when are movies gonna be released with regulated advertisement content free and on demand over the internet. The possibilities for this sort of thing are endless.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  13.  
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    Siggy, Apr 10th, 2006 @ 4:14pm

    TV shows over the net

    I do not watch regular TV now, why would I want to watch it on my computer? There is to much crap on TV now and ain't worth watching. Maybe Public TV programs like Nova once and a great while.
    Siggy

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  14.  
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    Syed Ali, Apr 10th, 2006 @ 4:21pm

    Applause for ABC

    ABC deserves a pat on the shoulder. It's doing a great job and this is just a new addition to the list of their good points. ABC is perhaps the best Broadcast Television station.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  15.  
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    HotGarbage, May 9th, 2006 @ 4:24am

    Re: Sounds reasonable ....

    What will probably happen is it will be available first for Media Player X then someone will develop codecs for the *nixs so that the rest of the world can watch them. But that of course will take time.

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]

  16.  
    identicon
    jamie, Sep 12th, 2007 @ 10:04am

    question

    which nick threlkled is this??

     

    [ reply to this | link to this | view in thread ]


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