AOL Offers Free Television Programming Online

There was a time when television viewers were limited to watching shows selected by television at designated times for a monthly fee, and were forced to watch commercials for up to 30% of their viewing time. This has all changed when AOL announced its new free digital television service slated to launch early next year.

The service, dubbed In2TV, will feature programming from AOL-Time Warner's subdivision, Warner Brothers. The online service will divide its programming into six channels. They will be separated by genre, some possibilities are drama, comedy and animated series.

In its first year, the service plans on offering 3400 hours of Warner Brothers programming. AOL states that it is expecting this number to rise as it is currently in negotiations with other major networks about securing the rights to broadcast their shows. Some of the classic shows Warner Brothers will be showing include "Welcome Back, Kotter", "The Fugitive", and "Eight is Enough?"

The service is free, and will be supported by advertising revenue. Programs on the In2TV network will have one to two minutes of advertising per half hour, compared to eight minutes on regular television. The commercials cannot be skipped past, like in other video on demand services such as Tivo.

Eric Frankel, the president of Warner Brothers' domestic cable distribution division, stated "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."

Many other television production companies are currently experimenting in online methods of distribution. ABC is offering several programs including Lost and Desperate Housewives through the iTunes Music Store. NBC and CBS announced they would be selling reruns of television shows for 99 cents through a video on demand service. Peter Storck, who is president of the research firm Points North Group stated in a recent New York Times Article, "They are saying let's take the plunge, put the content out there, and figure out how to monetize it."

In an effort to prevent this new services from competing with DVD sales, In2TV plans on offering a wide, but changing selection of several hundred episodes each month, rather than providing perpetual access to all of its content.

On top of In2TV service, AOL plans on launching a news entertainment service termed TMZ, which is named after a region around Hollywood. The service will be ran by Harvey Levin, former executive producer of celebrity justice. It will feature breaking entertainment news and a gossip database with information about celebrities.

Some computer users have given the service a luke-warm reaction, as it has been technologically possible to download television shows off the internet since the late 90's through various illegal distribution services, and other users are perfectly content with watching television through existing distribution channels. A recent survey by the Points North Group of 1,098 web users found that 28 percent stated they wanted to watch television shows on their personal computers or laptops.

Beyond the advertising, the only other obligation of the users is to be part of a peer to peer network included in the software. AOL stated that this will help them decreased bandwidth cost because users will be streaming media to each other, rather than AOL having to pick up the massive expected bandwidth.