NBC, Fox and Disney’s ABC all made moves this week to shift their business model more firmly to the internet, taking large chunks of their Autumn season TV offerings and promising them in their entirety, supported by advertising, over the internet.
It seems that almost two years into experimenting with the internet that most of the major US broadcasters are ready to begin ramping up advertising, moving away from clips and fanzines and discrete shows, to a full line-up.
Fox said that it would offer free shows for two weeks after broadcast through Apple’s iTunes Store including American Dad, Bones and K-Ville, while ABC has partnered AOL to distribute its full-length TV shows for free on the AOL Video platform the day after they air, and that 4 episodes will be available at any point in time including Lost and Ugly Betty
NBC Universal said that it would offer TV shows as free downloads to a PC for a week after the initial broadcast, including Heroes, The Office and The Tonight Show, only downloadable to a Windows PC. The files will expire after seven days and users won’t be able to fast-forward through adverts or transfer them to another device. NBC said that it eventually plans to charge consumers to keep downloads permanently.