Disney just decided to make "Desperate Housewives", "Lost", "Commander in Chief", and the entire season of "Alias" available for free online beginning in May. The free shows will be advertiser supported.
I think this is a great step by Disney-ABC and will, in the long run, prove to be even more profitable for them. Not to mention, it will be a blow to all the "pirated" downloads of these shows available on the Internet. "Why download illegally when I can see the show for free - legally?" People in different countries will be able to see these shows when and as audiences in the US see them. This will, undoubtedly, further fuel DVD sales in the US and abroad for these shows.
It will be interesting to see if Disney offers iPod compatible formats of the shows from their website and if iTunes will continue to charge for downloads of these shows.
It will also be interesting to see what the telcos do about the bandwidth and if they will use this as an opportunity to charge Disney-ABC more for their pipes. Aye Caramba!
Read more at biz.yahoo.com/ap/060410...
technorati tags: Internet, Telcos, Net Neutrality, TwoTierInternet, Disney, ABC, Lost, Alias, Desperate Housewives, Commander in Chief, TV, Television, Free