Four seasons of "Lost" are already available.
(Credit: Netflix/screenshot by John P. Falcone)Several of ABC's top shows will soon be available to watch via Netflix's "Watch Instantly" online streaming service. The first four seasons of "Lost" are already available, and they'll be joined in September by "Desperate Housewives" (seasons four and five), "Grey's Anatomy" (season five), and "Legend of the Seeker" (seasons one and two). The deal builds on an earlier agreement to make Disney Channel content available on Netflix (ABC is a division of Disney.)
While most of these programs are already available for viewing online on ABC's Web site, the Netflix deal allows them to be watched on TV screens via a large and growing number of Netflix-compatible home video devices, including many Blu-ray players and home theater systems, some Internet-enabled TVs, the Xbox 360, and the $99 Roku Digital Media Player. The ABC content joins programs from rival networks, including Fox, NBC, and CBS, that have long been available on Netflix. (Disclosure: CNET is a division of CBS Interactive.) The online video streaming--available at no extra charge for Netflix subscribers on the $9 per month or higher rental tier--currently offers approximately 12,000 movies and TV shows.
As far as I'm concerned, this seems like another feather in the cap for Netflix. These sort of serialized dramas are perfect fodder for sequential online viewing. (The final season of "Lost" starts early in 2010, and Netflix subscribers who want to catch up--or start from scratch--can do so at no extra charge.) What's interesting to me is that ABC's making this move, which could potentially lower demand for sales of the same episodes on DVD and iTunes. One wonders how Disney board member Steve Jobs feels about it.
What do you think: Are you excited to see these ABC shows hitting Netflix, or does it just highlight some favorite shows of yours that still remain unavailable?
(Credit:
Boxee)
Boxee is expanding its content and potential audience.
The free software that streams Web content directly to the TV has added ABC to its arsenal of content providers. Boxee already offers access to Hulu, Joost, YouTube, Netflix, and CBS (parent company of CNET publisher CBS Interactive).
The software is publicly available to Mac, Linux, and Apple TV users. Windows users can join too, but they have to ask for an invite, as that version is now a private alpha release.
Boxee says 200,000 Mac, Linux, and Apple TV users signed up as of early January.
Originality and Hollywood: an oxymoron?
The entertainment industry has an aura of oozing with creativity, originality and all those things that seem, well, magical.
ABC's free prime-time shows will include 'Ugly Betty.'
(Credit: ABC)But when one of the players comes out with a blockbuster idea, especially on the business operations front, it's like watching a flock of geese take off. One leads the pack, the others follow. The formation may not always be perfectly aligned, but they're all headed in the same general direction.
The Walt Disney Co.'s Disney-ABC Television Group announced a deal with Time Warner's AOL today that calls for ABC to offer free, full-length prime-time episodes online a day after they premiere. ABC's free prime-time shows, which will begin appearing on AOL Video today, will include the likes of The Bachelor, Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty. Users will be able to view about four episodes per TV series at any one time.
As noted in a blog by David Kaplan on paidcontent.org, ABC is making a move to syndicate its prime-time shows online, much like CBS.
And ABC's free-prime-time-show announcement follows one made by NBC Universal a day earlier, in which NBC said it tuned in to the concept of offering free downloadable TV shows. NBC's Wednesday announcement said it would offer ad-supported prime time shows, such as The Office and Heroes, that could be downloaded after they aired and remain on users' computers for seven days before virtually vaporizing, according to a report in The New York Times.
NBC's recent plans were spurred after a fallout with Apple that pushed the media company into a deal with Amazon, for its paid shows.
Winter is approaching, time to fly south?
Lost is looking sharp on ABC's HD Showcase.
(Credit: ABC)Just got this note from a PR rep:
"Hi David-
We had chatted in early April about Move Networks (regarding ABC's switch from Flash to Move), and I thought you might want to hear a bit of other ABC/Move related news.
Late yesterday, ABC quietly launched their HD player powered by Move Networks' publishing platform and Move's player. There is now an 'HD Showcase' with shows including Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, Lost and Ugly Betty running at HD resolution (1280x720).
ABC developer blog on the launch: http://blogs.abc.com/fepblog/2007/07/hd-streaming-ha.html
To see the HD video, go to the following site, click on "Launch player," then click on the box that says "Episodes now available in ABC HD": http://dynamic.abc.go.com/streaming/landing
To a certain degree the note says it all, but I should add that I watched a bit of a Lost episode and the picture looks very impressive. That said, my work computer (a year-old, middle-of-the-road Dell laptop) didn't have enough horsepower to keep the video running smoothly. As ABC warns, for optimal viewing you need a pretty powerful computer and high-resolution monitor. If anybody experiences any additional problems or compatibility issues, please note them in the comments section. I'm running Windows XP and Firefox.
Where's the Dharma beer?
Hurley sizes-up the hatch.
Tonight is the season finale of Lost, and although I'm excited to see what happens, I'm also certain the show will leave us will an unbearable cliffhanger. I felt like rioting at the end of last season. How dare ABC toy with our emotions like this?
Well, to keep rabid fans from doing anything they might regret later (do they get Lost in prison?), Gameloft has created an iPod game of Lost that is downloadable from Apple's iTunes store for $4.99.
The game looks pretty cool and challenging, actually. It has 27 levels, weapons, wild animals, and the infamous "black smoke." You can't choose which character you play as (you're Jack), but the game does let you interact with different characters. I know what I'll be playing during commercial breaks tonight.
Lost: looking good online.
(Credit: 2007 American Broadcasting Companies, Inc.)Among the networks, ABC.com has been one of the most aggressive in terms of streaming full versions of its shows online after they've aired on TV. During those quieter moments at work--some call them smoking breaks without the smoking--you can watch episodes of Lost, Grey's Anatomy, Ugly Betty, and more, right on your computer screen. Until a few days ago, however, the picture was rather small. Now ABC.com has launched a new full-screen "HD-quality" video player, and the "broadcast" looks shockingly good.
Meanwhile, NBC also has spruced up its online video player, and it, too, has added a full-screen option. The big difference is that NBC's video player uses Adobe's Flash Video, while ABC's is built on technology from upstart Move Networks.
During a "break," CNET editors John Falcone and Matthew Moskovciak huddled around my 19-inch Sony monitor in my office for a quick look at a recent Lost episode and were duly impressed. The picture may not quite measure up to true hi-def, but step a few feet back, and you're looking at a very detailed, sharp image. It's the kind of moment that makes you think that someday you'll be able to ditch your cable or satellite provider and get your content from cheaper sources that also happen to be legal. What a concept.
For a more in-depth story on ABC.com and its video player, go to broadcastingcable.com.
Source: Broadcasting & Cable
Via: AVS Forum
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