Monday, May 1, 2006
ABC launches free streaming
ABC kicked off their new streaming service today. Now, you can watch the latest episodes of "Lost," "Desperate Housewives," "Alias" and "Commander in Chief" for free. Unlike the $1.99 iTunes version, the free shows will have commercials.
What I find interesting is that each episode has a single sponsor (or at least only one per viewing) and that there are fewer commercials than the normal show. The runtime for "Lost" (I think) was 43 minutes.
The only real "penalty" comes when you try to fast forward the show. ABC makes you watch a 30-second full screen commercial from their sponsor. When I tried to fast forward through "Desperate Housewives," I got a commercial from the episode's sponsor Cingular.
Overall, I think the service looks promising. The interface makes it very easy to switch between shows, the video quality is really good and the price is just right. There is just no way I am going to shell out $2 to watch something on my iPod.
I think a nice next step would be to tie this into Windows Media Center through the Online Spotlight section.
The screen that launches the video player
Video player window
Ford ad (spawned by fast forward event)
After Ford ad plays, user must click back to show
ABC kicked off their new streaming service today. Now, you can watch the latest episodes of "Lost," "Desperate Housewives," "Alias" and "Commander in Chief" for free. Unlike the $1.99 iTunes version, the free shows will have commercials.
What I find interesting is that each episode has a single sponsor (or at least only one per viewing) and that there are fewer commercials than the normal show. The runtime for "Lost" (I think) was 43 minutes.
The only real "penalty" comes when you try to fast forward the show. ABC makes you watch a 30-second full screen commercial from their sponsor. When I tried to fast forward through "Desperate Housewives," I got a commercial from the episode's sponsor Cingular.
Overall, I think the service looks promising. The interface makes it very easy to switch between shows, the video quality is really good and the price is just right. There is just no way I am going to shell out $2 to watch something on my iPod.
I think a nice next step would be to tie this into Windows Media Center through the Online Spotlight section.
The screen that launches the video player
Video player window
Ford ad (spawned by fast forward event)
After Ford ad plays, user must click back to show
¶ 10:47 AM 
About Shawn Morton
Married father of 4, social media strategist at Nationwide, consumer electronics enthusiast, hair metal aficionado.
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