Online TV, as easy as A-B-C, 1-2-3 (million)

Viewers just can't get enough of "Lost," apparently. Disney CEO Bob Iger said this week that viewers have watched ABC television shows available online about 3 million times since the network launched a two-month trial earlier this year.

The shows are offered with commercials that viewers must watch. When asked, Iger said the network is considering charging for some shows. ABC currently sells ad-free versions of some shows through iTunes.

Bloggers seemed hopeful that the success of the ABC trial could be a sign that more streaming options would be on the way.

Blog community response:

"At Tuesday's ABC upfront, Anne Sweeney said more than 2 million streams had been served since the May 1 start of ABC.com's full-episode trial. Fast forward a mere two days to Disney CEO Bob Iger telling a lunch crowd at the Boston College Chief Executives' Club the network has served about 3 million streams. Does that mean several hundred thousand streams were served in the last two days? I know 'Lost' is popular but still..."
--PaidContent.org

"This news coupled with the news that ABC won't be replaying old episodes of Lost next season (no more need for this handy utility), I bet they move them to online-only showing, before they're released on DVD or found at the iTunes Store, based on the success of their online streams."
--PVRblog

"This is just a proof of the fact that video content online has a huge potential for the movie and television studios in the United States. They just have to find a good way to monetize this initiative."
--Broadband VOIP