Ad-Supported, Free TV Downloads From ABC

ABC is going to let you download and view some of its programing or free, which makes sense because you already watch it for free on your big new hi-def television. “Lost”, “Desperate Housewives” and “Grey’s Anatomy” will be free to download when MyABC.com launches in May. The difference from the $1.99 downloads from iTunes, the free downloads from ABC come with advertising. Sounds like a great deal to me particularly if I’m only trying to catch an episode I missed on TV last night (and I suppose my Tivo also missed!). As long as the ads stay out of shows I pay for I’m in favor of the networks approaching digital distribution of shows in as many ways they can think of.

The thing I find most amazing is how fast the TV networks seem to be attacking the problems of illegal downloads and file sharing. Unlike the music industry that is apparently unable to change it’s model at any cost and would rather sue and intimidate it’s customers, TV seems to be reaching out and seeing what will work. The iTunes store has at least somewhat shown that people will pay rather than steal if given the chance to do so with an easy-to-use and fair system. The TV networks it seems have watched the music industry struggle with the transistion to digital delivery and are making a much better attempt at working with consumers rather than against them.

The next step is for the networks to expand the offerings beyond the top-rated shows and get as much downloadable content out there as possible. When the amount of content available grows I think we’ll begin seeing even more interesting options coming from the networks. Let’s hope so.