TV'S AND PC'S REACH MERGING POINT

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	ABC WILL NOW PERMIT WEB USERS TO WATCH ITS ONLINE NEWS SERVICE FREE Jan 20 2006
	Continuing to search for a profitable business model for online news video, ABC said Thursday (more)
	DISNEY DOES BIG BUSINESS SELLING TV EPISODES ONLINE Jan 19 2006
	The Walt Disney Co. said that it has sold more than 1.5 million copies of (more)
	BBC NEWS CLIPS TO AUGMENT ABC'S ONLINE Jan 10 2006
	The BBC will augment ABC News's Internet service with about 40 news clips daily that (more)

TV'S AND PC'S REACH MERGING POINT
Monday, April 10 2006

In its latest experiment in merging television with the Internet, ABC is planning to make most of its programming available for free on a revamped website beginning April 30, the Wall Street Journal reported today (Monday), citing no sources. A limited number of shows, including Alias, Commander in Chief, and Lost, will make their debut at launch, with the network expanding the available programming in the future. Shows from cable networks owned by the Walt Disney Co., including the Disney Channel and ABC Family Channel are due to become available in June, while Soapnet plans to offer some programs beginning April 17. Each will be "streamed" and contain commercials that viewers won't be able to skip, the Journal reported, although the video can be paused, rewound and fast-forwarded. It cannot be downloaded to portable devices like the iPod or PSP, although some of the same programming will continue to be provided for downloading commercial-free for $1.99 on Apple's iTunes Music Store. Ten advertisers have reportedly signed up for the service, which will limit the number of ad breaks to three, instead of the usual five, with a commercial for only one advertiser appearing during each break. The Journal observed that the move could spark numerous rifts with Disney partners -- cable companies are likely to complain that the plan is aimed at bypassing them; affiliates would probably complain that they would be unable to benefit from the online operation; unions might complain that the company is opening a new revenue source for itself without cutting in the creators of the material being offered.

YAHOO BACKS AWAY FROM PRODUCING TV SHOWS FOR INTERNET
Thursday, March 2 2006

Yahoo Media chief Lloyd Braun has had second thoughts about producing exclusive network-type programs for the Internet and instead will seek content from other media companies, the New York Times reported today (Thursday). Braun, the former chairman of ABC Entertainment, told the newspaper, "I didn't fully appreciate what success in this medium is really going to look like. ... This is not about creating one-off hits like in my old business. That is not going (more)

WILL ABC STAND FOR APPLE BROADCASTING COMPANY?
Friday, January 27 2006
As a result of the Disney-Pixar merger, Pixar chief Steve Jobs, who will become the merged company's largest individual stockholder, is likely to influence future plans of Disney's cable and TV companies and bring them into the embrace of his Apple Computer company, several analysts have observed. Before the merger was announced, they noted, ABC and the Disney Channel had already become the first broadcasters to make programs available for downloading from Apple's iTunes Music (more)