Quote :

"Looking for "The Fugitive?" Didn't get enough "Eight Is Enough?" Would you like to "Welcome Back, Kotter" one more time? Warner Brothers is preparing a major new Internet service that will let fans watch full episodes from more than 100 old television series. The service, called In2TV, will be free, supported by advertising, and will start early next year. More than 4,800 episodes will be made available online in the first year. The move will give Warner a way to reap new advertising revenue from a huge trove of old programming that is not widely syndicated. Programs on In2TV will have one to two minutes of commercials for each half-hour episode, compared with eight minutes in a standard broadcast. The Internet commercials cannot be skipped. America Online, which is making a broad push into Internet video, will distribute the service on its Web portal. Both it and Warner Brothers are Time Warner units. An enhanced version of the service will use peer-to-peer file-sharing technology to get the video data to viewers. Warner, with 800 television programs in its library, says it is the largest TV syndicator. It wants to use the Internet to reach viewers rather than depend on the whims of cable networks and local TV stations, said Eric Frankel, the president of Warner Brothers' domestic cable distribution division. "We looked at the rise of broadband on Internet and said, 'Let's try to be the first to create a network that opens a new window of distribution for us rather than having to go hat in hand to a USA or a Nick at Night or a TBS,' " Mr. Frankel said."

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/14/business/14warner.html?oref=login

Quote :

"For those who want to watch on a big screen, AOL is introducing optional technology that it says will produce a DVD-quality picture. Even with a broadband connection, most Internet video looks grainy at full width on a computer monitor, let alone a big TV set. The new option, called AOL Hi-Q, will require the downloading once of special software, and the program may not start for several minutes, depending on the speed of the users' connection. There is a catch. To use the technology, viewers will have to agree to participate in a special file-sharing network. This approach helps AOL reduce the cost of distributing-high quality video files by passing portions of the video files from one user's computer to another. AOL says that since it will control the network, it can protect users from the sorts of viruses and spyware that infect other peer-to-peer systems. AOL is using file-sharing technology from Kontiki, a Silicon Valley company providing a similar system to the ambitious Internet video program of the BBC. Warner is also adding shorter segments and interactive features for users who do not want to watch entire episodes. Each month, there will be a series of one- or two-minute excerpts drawn from the full-length episodes, featuring funny scenes or segments showing famous actors when they played bit parts on TV. (Brad Pitt, for one, had a small role on "Growing Pains" in 1987.) These excerpts can be sent to friends by e-mail or instant message, and will eventually be offered on mobile phones. Other programs will be accompanied by interactive features that can be displayed side by side with the video, like trivia quizzes and video games related to the shows. One feature, to accompany "Welcome Back, Kotter," will allow users to upload a picture of themselves (or a friend) and superimpose 1970's hair styles and fashion, and send the pictures by e-mail to friends or use as icons on AOL's instant-message system."

interesting. they're even using p2p technology to distribute the content

the question is, though, how long 'till we hack it?

[Edited on November 14, 2005 at 4:56 PM. Reason : .]

11/14/2005 4:54:07 PM

ABOUT FUCKING TIME


i thought it was gonna take a fucking social revolution to get something like this

11/14/2005 4:55:29 PM

awesome, ive been wanting to see the monkees, the man from u.n.c.l.e., and hogan's heroes for awhile now. they took them off tv land.

11/14/2005 4:56:24 PM

finally.


If they're smart they'll do like a subscription On-Demand type thing over the internet for newer shows and movies. Like what they do on Digital Cable, only over the web.

I mean they could get into markets where people can't get their cable service. Everyone wins.

11/14/2005 4:59:36 PM

Thank God.

Let's pray for more to come.

11/14/2005 6:23:47 PM

lets hope they have those Bomb ass nickelodeon shows

11/14/2005 6:37:57 PM

Welcome Back Kotter MOTHERFUCKERS!

11/14/2005 11:41:55 PM

the only way I see this is that it will suck ass. there will be 20 different distributors each with their own videos to offer so if I want to see Family Guy episiodes I'll need to go to Fox's distributor and if I want to see last week's West Wing I'll need to go to NBC. At least currently with music "most" mainstream music can be found on each of the distributing sites. Apple if they want to do this right needs to secure for themselves a MUCH larger base of shows to distribute or the market will be too goddamn fragmented to lead to the "TV revolution".

11/14/2005 11:55:45 PM

will it suck ass compared to NOT being able to find shows instantly on the internet?

didn't think so

[Edited on November 14, 2005 at 11:57 PM. Reason : .]

11/14/2005 11:57:36 PM

no it won't but if it means having to have 20 different accounts on different download services, then yes, it will. Itunes is great because you can get all your music from ONE place. The way TV is going this IS NOT GOING TO HAPPEN.

while i didn't see that AOL is offering the episodes for free it doesn't really matter since its still another "place"

[Edited on November 15, 2005 at 12:03 AM. Reason : .]

11/15/2005 12:01:53 AM

Quote :

"you can get all your music from ONE place"

uhm, no you can't

you can get a shit ton

but its not like EVERY song is on iTunes

11/15/2005 12:05:06 AM

oh jesus fucking christ. yes dumbshit, i noted that in my first post; however, i failed to make that caveat known in my second. I am sincerely sorry, but my point still stands. I can get the majority of my online music from one store. with the current trend I will need 20 stores to get my videos from.

11/15/2005 12:10:23 AM

Quote :

"Itunes is great because you can get all your music from ONE place"

haha, i'm not trying to apple bash but that's far far from the truth, there's been so many times i've wanted to hear sound clips from artists or songs only to find they aren't on itunes

right now there's no place where you can get all your music right now

11/15/2005 12:17:42 AM

IPODS ARE FOR GAYS

11/15/2005 6:47:56 AM

they wont be able to get everyone but they'll be close

think about all the channels timewarner provides over digital cable

combined with the road runner and aol networks

added to a (possible and likely) alliance with Microsoft


they would dominate

11/15/2005 1:41:43 PM

that makes no sense shaggy, just because time warner is also a cable company doesn't mean that they'll be able to distribute the same shows over the internet. I'm pretty sure cable companies would be pretty pissed about that. basically the reason online music can be a success is that you can get basically the same thing from different companies, you aren't locked in. with the way TV is going, there will be specific distributors for different networks. I want to be able to get sportscenter from 4 or 5 different entities so that I can choose which is the best. right now i can get the same song from various places i don't have to go to itunes for a specific distributor.

11/15/2005 5:49:14 PM

TimeWarner is just an example.

I used them because they'd probably be the first out the door with the service.

You would of course have other companies get in on it, but just like online music services it will be the first out the door that will become the leader.

The reason companies were so eager to jump into bed with Apple or other companies music stores is to stem off the increasing ammount of piracy.

Most people just want 1 or 2 songs and dont want an album. Combine that with the convenience of logging into a p2p network and getting the song and people stop driving to the store for CDs.

at .99c a song it makes it convenient and legal and so people are ok with spending the money.

The only thing that is keeping the same thing from happening with tv shows is connection speeds.

I mean there is obviously a lot of tv piracy going on on the internet, but not anywhere near the level of music.

I for one, would gladly pay, as either a stand alone service or a service in conjunction with my current cable service, a fee to be able to watch what i wanted when i wanted from my computer/digitalcable box/xbox 360/etc...

And it would be in the best interest of these show distrubutors to act now before the piracy becomes easier.

11/16/2005 3:44:11 PM