Damion Chaplin
04-12-2006, 11:00 PM
<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://feeds.feedburner.com/reuters/technologyNews?m=2155' target='_blank'>http://feeds.feedburner.com/reuters/technologyNews?m=2155</a><br /><br /></div><i>"Walt Disney Co.'s ABC television network will offer some of its most popular shows, such as "Desperate Housewives" and "Lost," for free on the Web in a service supported by advertising, the company said on Monday. U.S. media companies have been experimenting with ways to deliver programs through new technologies while maintaining revenue as viewership for prime-time television schedules slowly erodes. But ABC's venture, which starts as a two-month trial in May, goes a step further, potentially bypassing cable operators by bringing top shows straight to the consumer, analysts said."</i><br /><br />Boy, I'm thinking this time next year I can just drop the TV part off my cable subscription altogether. The more networks that offer their shows direct on the internet, the more I feel like an idiot shelling out $30/month for the same shows. No word yet as to what resolution they'll be offering them in (both SD and HD please), and so far it's only available to those with "a U.S. Internet address to protect foreign broadcasting rights", but it's certainly a step in the right direction, don't you think?