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Brian
03-01-2007, 10:37 AM
Fox: It's prime time for show downloads (http://www.thetechlounge.com/news/11286/Fox+Its+prime+time+for+show+downloads/)

" Visitors can purchase individual episodes or entire seasons of such shows as 24 and Prison Break through the company's video distribution platform for play on computers or portable devices. A single episode, which would be available the day after its prime-time premiere, will cost $1.99, while entire seasons will range from $19.99-$39.99.

"Times are changing, and from our perspective, the business is being developed across the Internet, and we're taking a look at all the opportunities," said Ron Berryman, senior vice president and general manager of FIM's media station group. "We're testing distribution models out, as everyone else is."

Consumers also can purchase movies, games and anime through Fox On Demand's new commerce function.

I don't think this is going to be as successful as they expect. DRM, quality, bandwidth, and content issues (which are not addressed by this or other articles) aside, if it still costs less to buy the media physically, people aren't going to use it. Forty bucks buys a season of whatever, and DVDs don't cost $20 new; toss into the mix the tangible benefits pretty boxes: what would you rather have, eight hours of downloading on top of the costs of storage, or an overnight from a good online media store? Prime means a lot more when we're talking Amazon than Fox."

Read full story here (http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9588_22-6163374.html)

handrail
03-01-2007, 10:37 AM
so are there going to be ads in the shows too? i'm confused by this statement:

"Berryman described the revised platform as very "video-centric" with an enhanced ability to target video ads to consumers."

i wouldn't want to spend $2 on ads + a show. i've always been surprised that iTunes does so well with TV shows. even with a bigger display like the Zune's, i still can't get into watching movies on a dinkus screen.

Brian
03-01-2007, 11:19 AM
Yeah, I'll never understand watching TV on such a tiny device. I do buy shows occasionally on iTunes, but I watch them on my computer. It's great if you miss an episode of a show you watch or if you don't have cable but want to see a show not on network television. I have noticed that more stations, like NBC, let you watch the show on their website after it airs.