Classic TV Series Revived on AOL
In a generation-crossing marriage of cutting-edge media-delivery technology and vintage television content, Warner Bros. and its Time Warner counterpart America Online have announced In2TV, a service via which thousands of episodes of more than 300 series—including such chestnuts as The Fugitive, Maverick, Chico and the Man, Eight Is Enough and Welcome Back, Kotter—may be viewed on AOL.com.
Like commercial television, In2TV, which is scheduled to launch in January, will air for free, with advertising built in to each episode. Four 15-second commercials will air per half-hour of programming. AOL is paying a license fee to Warner Bros for the rights to air the shows, and will also share advertising revenue.
Emulating a model established in the early days of cable, the internet television venture will begin with previously aired material, much of it decades old. Executives at AOL and Warner Bros. feel that this ambitious co-venture may represent a first step toward replicating the cycle whereby the evolution of cable led to original programming and more timely repeats.
One of the hurdles to making the deal, which was in the works for more than a year, was ensuring that the music that appears in the programming could be played on the internet. Actors, writers and other creative participants in the series will be paid residuals, just as they are for conventional broadcast reruns.
This latest move into digital transmission of television content comes on the heels of other recent announcements such as the partnership between Apple and ABC-Disney, through which ABC has begun selling episodes of some of its shows to be downloaded to Apple iPods. In addition, last week NBC and CBS announced that they would sell repeats of their new shows for 99 cents an episode through video-on-demand services. NBC has joined up with DirecTV, while CBS is on board with Comcast.
In an effort to monitor the access to content, AOL will make only a portion of its library available at a time. In2TV will begin with approximately 4,800 episodes during the first year. This strategy was devised in an effort to avoid cannibalizing potential DVD sales of previously aired series.
In2TV will also feature various interactive options, including games and quizzes built around the shows and themed clip compilations such as a look at stars before they were famous and a roundup of memorable laugh-out-loud moments.
For AOL, In2TV represents the latest in a long-range strategy to draw consumers to its portal, AOL.com, which recently abandoned its subscription model in favor of the free distribution of content. The delivery of appealing broadband content is one of the cornerstones of that strategy.
In an effort to enhance the viewing experience for those who wish to watch shows on a large screen, AOL will also roll out AOL Hi-Q, an optional technology that the company purports will produce a DVD-quality picture rather than the grainy look typically associated with online video. AOL Hi-Q will require a onetime download of proprietary software, and the program may not start for several minutes, depending on the speed of the users’ connection.
However, in order to use the technology, viewers must consent to participate in a special file-sharing network controlled and protected by AOL. This will help the company to control the cost of streaming high-resolution video while protecting users from the viruses and spyware that infect some peer-to-peer systems.