[Josh] Disney has gone and done it -- put popular shows including "Lost" and "Desperate Housewives" online, free, with ads (starting April 30). This Disney/ABC move shows the true role of the Web in network strategy: to expand audiences outside the regular TV schedule. ABC’s move will lock in loyal viewers, generate revenues, broaden relationships with advertisers, and turn its Web site into a high-traffic destination.
As of this moment, CBS, Fox, and NBC are behind – they must create similar sites. Networks move slowly because of their cultural tendency to protect their prime-time, 30-second-spot based legacy, but that legacy is already in danger due to fragmentation, ad clutter, and digital video recorders. Despite the networks protests, advertisers tell us they'll be cutting spending on 30-second commercials.
Now cable VOD is behind and the momentum is shifting to the Web. The cable guys need to get their ad model in place pronto, and that means lining up behind measurement vendors like Rentrak.
This is also a shot across the bow for portals. ABC is running its own site, not throwing its video into a big mass with everybody else. The best portal strategy will turn out to be Yahoo!'s -- index all the video and point to it. Sounds like what you'd think Google will do, but Google's video strategy, which is hosted, won't be as effective as the index-the-web strategy at Yahoo!
As of now, any network strategy that doesn't include free Web video is way behind. The same goes for advertisers. TV's multi-distribution era has begun.
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