ABC to Offer Free Shows Online Via AOL
ABC tries to steal NBC's thunder with its own announcement. — As reported at DailyTech, NBC Universal announced this week that it would be launching a direct download service to allow viewers to download episodes of their TV shows free of charge.
Context & Ripple Effects
The free-online-TV race is heating up fast this week: NBC Universal announced a direct download service giving away episodes at no charge, prompting NewTeeVee to ask what it means for the rumored Hulu joint venture, while Fox is separately courting the iPod crowd with its own new lure for portable viewers. ABC's move to put shows on AOL — covered by the Wall Street Journal as a sign of the web's growing allure for TV — lands one day later, and reads as a deliberate counterpunch to steal NBC's thunder.
The significance is that all three broadcasters are converging on the same play within days of each other: free, ad-supported distribution they control themselves, rather than licensing through someone else's store.
First-order effects
- ABC gets a new free distribution channel through AOL immediately, going head-to-head with NBC Universal's just-announced free download service for the same online audience.
- AOL gains marquee broadcast content it can use to pull viewers back to its portal at no programming cost.
Second-order effects
- NBC and Fox are pushed to accelerate their own web strategies — NBC's VOD plans already have commentators asking how they fit with Hulu, and Fox's iPod-focused offer suggests each network will differentiate on device and format rather than cede the field.
- Apple's iTunes, the incumbent paid-download outlet, faces pressure as its suppliers experiment with giving away the same episodes elsewhere.
Third-order effects
- If every major broadcaster builds its own free web channel, the industry shifts from selling episodes through intermediaries toward ad-supported, network-owned portals — with the unresolved question being whether joint ventures like Hulu or individual deals like ABC-AOL become the standard structure.
The trend: Broadcast networks are racing to control their own free, ad-supported online distribution in 2007, loosening their dependence on paid third-party download stores.