Looking to strike a blow against the proliferation of digital video recorders, the ABC network, its affiliated broadcast stations, and Cox Communications’ cable systems are establishing an on-demand video service that would allow viewers to watch ABC shows like “Lost” and “Desperate Housewives” any time they choose.
ABC and Cox will offer ABC shows on demand, like “Desperate Housewives,” above, and “Lost,” top. Viewers, however, will not be able to fast-forward through commercials.
The catch: It uses a new technology that disables the viewers’ ability to fast-forward through commercials.
The system, which ABC is expected to announce Monday, has been tested over the last several months in homes served by Cox in Orange County, Calif. The programs replayed on this video-on-demand service would include advertising sold by the network as well as by local ABC stations, but the total number of commercials in the shows would be far less than the over-the-air broadcast version of the show.
ABC and Cox executives said that consumer response to the test had been positive. Several executives involved in the project, which ABC plans to offer to other cable systems around the country, said the move was an overt attempt to staunch the use of DVRs like TiVo, which viewers often use to avoid commercials. That activity is increasingly seen as threat to broadcast television, which depends on ad revenue to pay for programs.
“This does counter the DVR,” said Anne Sweeney, the president of the Disney-ABC television group. “You don’t need TiVo if you have fast-forward-disabled video on demand. It gives you the same opportunity to catch up to your favorite shows.”
Ray Cole, president of Citadel Communications, which owns three local ABC stations, who is also the chairman of the board of affiliated ABC stations, was even more direct about the goal of the new service.
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