Disney will be trial running a program that will post four popular ABC shows online for viewing FREE the day after their television release.
The four shows that will be available are: Lost, Desperate Housewives, Commander in Chief, and Alias
The shows will have different advertisements embedded in them and users will NOT be able to forward through them. The other interesting thing that one of the advertisers is counting on is that the attention of the viewers on the web version of the shows will be more focused. Instead of leaning back and relaxing in the easy chair in the living room, with the users watching on their computers, they’ll be leaning forward and focusing on the video more closely. I can understand her point, but I’m guessing people will still be able to get up and have a bio-break, or people will be multi-tasking a little more on their computer while they’re watching the show as well.
This actually seems like a great plan, but may be undermined by the proliferation of TiVo and other DVR’s.
However, the week before last we had set our Comcast DVR to record Lost, which it did. However, when we tried to go back and watch it, it wouldn’t play. WE HAD MISSED AN EPISODE OF LOST! That wasn’t a good thing in our house. We were going to buy it on iTunes and huddle around the computer, but it wasn’t available the day after. We would have definitely viewed it online as soon as it was available, and although it would have only been $1.99 to purchase the episode we missed, I wasn’t really interested in having a single episode on my computer when I hadn’t collected the others.
In an odd twist of fate, ABC decided to re-broadcast the exact Lost episode we missed on Saturday night again. We were happy campers!