Not sure how I missed this but ABC launched their online video player at the beginning of this month which allows you to watch selected ABC shows online with short 30 second interactive ads sprinkled in. However, they are making the same mistake along the lines of Sony and Pearl Jam by only keeping the episodes free for a limited time. If advertisers are willing to pay for those eyeballs and be the sole advertiser for a single episode then why not keep them free forever?
If anything why not keep a limited number of episodes up and back episodes can be purchased through iTunes? Wouldn’t that make more sense because now you can please the stations that are syndicating the shows years down the road, while also keeping your audience happy by providing a couple alternatives to how they can view their content.
If you haven’t already checked it out, I suggest having a look at ABC’s online Flash player as the quality of the shows is really top notch.
Originally posted on May 30, 2006 @ 8:42 am