Saul Hansell writes: "... 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. ...¶... 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. ...¶... 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. ..." Link: New York Times. Emphasis added. Kontiki is also powering the Open Media Network, a non-profit public service distribution service working with public broadcasting stations.
Also see Classic TV to find new home, audience in upcoming Web launch (link: Radio And Internet Newsletter); AOL says 'Welcome back' to old TV shows (link: CNET News.com); AOL unveils free Web TV (link: CNN); AOL to Offer 'Vintage' TV Free - With Ads (link: Wall Street Journal); AOL to Offer Reruns on Demand (link: Washington Post)); and AOL.com is First Major Portal to Deliver DVD Quality Videos (link: AOL press release).
Update 11/17/2005
Gartner Research has an analysis, AOL Launch Sets Direction for TV-Over-the-Web Market. --Dennis
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