ABC: Why Hast Thou Forsaken Me?

So I'm a little bit upset about all this positive publicity ABC and Disney have been getting for their announcement that they will be offering free, ad-supported TV shows on their sites. These free, ad-supported videos are streaming... not downloads.

I was soo excited when I posted in early March that ABC announced they'd be offering free ad-supported DOWNLOADS. What happened? Did Disney step in and slap ABC's wrist? Does ABC still have plans to carry forward free ad-supported downloads? I hope so...

Until I hear differently, I'd like to officially retract my statement about ABC leading the digital revolution. Downloads would have been revolutionary. A two-month test of free streaming is not. You can't put a streaming video on your iPod and take it with you. At least, not without some resourceful, frustrated consumer with computer hacking skills helping you out.

Comments

[Josh]

See, I have to think that they'll do that eventually. The current model is the exact equivalent of broadcast tv: free content supported by ads over an already existing (and therefore essentially free) medium. Obviously people will then want to be able to 'record' those broadcasts as they did before with VCRs and now DVRs, and the technology is already in place to do that as soon as they figure out the best way to meet the consumer demand that will no doubt arise.

So yes, it's a little annoying for those of us who are already used to being able to download our tv shows (legally or otherwise), but I think it's a smart business move and shows some good initiative and understanding of the market on ABC/Disney's part.