IP Democracy: More Details on In2TV from NYT

The New York Times’ Saul Hansell provides some additional details on Warner Bros.’ and AOL’s plans for In2TV, a web-based service that will distribute ad-supported programs from more than 100 old TV series. He starts of by comparing In2TV’s revenue model with recent initiatives from CBS, NBC and ABC, working with Comcast, DirecTV and Apple.

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…CBS programs to be sold on Comcast [for $0.99/episode ] include commercials, but viewers can skip them. The NBC programs on DirecTV [$0.99/episode] and the ABC programs from Apple [$1.99/episode] have no commercials.

Warner is also adding shorter segments and interactive features for users who do not want to watch entire episodes…These excerpts can be sent to friends by e-mail or instant message, and will eventually be offered on mobile phones…[Some] 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.

Hansell says “the move will give Warner a way to reap new advertising revenue from a huge trove of old programming that is not widely syndicated.” He quotes Eric Frankel, president of Warner Brothers’ domestic cable distribution division, on the benefits of online distribution for Time Warner’s syndication business:

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…Frankel…”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…And in the future, when Warner negotiates with cable networks to syndicate popular programs, Mr. Frankel said, the price will be higher if the network wants it kept off the Internet.

Hansell also considers In2TV from AOL’s perspective:

For AOL, the In2TV deal is part of a broad strategy to create a range of video offerings to attract people to its free AOL.com portal. It already offers some video news and sports programs from CBS News, ABC and CNN…[and] is creating programming aimed at women and young people…

[M]ost of AOL’s programming effort, so far, have been built largely around short video segments, reflecting the conventional view that Internet users are less likely to want to watch full-length programs on a computer screen. Yet a recent survey by the Points North Group of 1,098 Internet users found that 28 percent said they wanted to watch regular television shows on their PC’s or laptops…

AOL will offer a version of the service meant to be watched on a television set connected to a Windows Media Center PC, and it is exploring a similar arrangement to link the Internet programming to television through TiVo video recorders. For those who want to watch on a big screen, AOL is introducing optional technology that it says will produce a DVD-quality picture…The new option, called AOL Hi-Q, will require the downloading once of [Kontiki] software, and the program may not start for several minutes, depending on the speed of the users’ connection.

Posted by Mitch Shapiro on November 14, 2005 2:05 PM to IP Democracy