SitcomsOnline.com News Blog

Shows Head Online on ABC.com, DotComedy.com, NBC.com and Google Video

ABC has announced its shows on its free broadband player on ABC.com for this season. They all will be Touchstone Television shows, except The Nine, which comes from Warner Bros. ABC will once again offer ad-supported, full-length episodes of several ABC primetime series online at www.ABC.com, beginning Saturday, September 23. ABC and its Affiliate Association have reached an arrangement which allows local affiliates to participate in the player through local advertising sales, branding opportunities and website links.
New episodes of returning series Lost, Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy, as well as episodes of the new series Six Degrees, Ugly Betty, The Knights of Prosperity and The Nine will be offered free to consumers on ABC’s website the day after their broadcast premieres. Generally, four episodes per series will be available at any given time. When the player relaunches, half-hour promotional programs of Lost, Desperate Housewives and Grey’s Anatomy, created to help viewers follow the ongoing stories in these series, will also be available.
Under the new arrangement, affiliates will be able to feature the broadband player on their own websites. Stations will have the opportunity to sell local advertisements for episodes and will retain all revenue associated to those specific sales, marking the first time that local ad insertion on a nationally operated broadband video player has been accomplished. The ABC affiliates will also be promoting the broadband player on-air and online.
All content will be streamed in 16x9 formatting which offers a cinema-like feel to the viewing experience.

NBC's DotComedy.com has quietly launched. You will find trailers, previews of NBC comedies, and classic full length episodes of Universal-owned shows such as The Munsters, Leave it to Beaver, Weird Science and Significant Others. They are found on the channel called "Sitcom Flashback." We will have more details when available.

Also at NBC, they will create a broadband player on NBC.com. They will stream full episodes of its new Fall primetime shows on www.nbc.com for free. The ad-supported model will allow viewers to watch episodes of their favorite NBC primetime shows on NBC 24/7, NBC Universal's video player which will re-launch on October 1st with a new enhanced high-resolution, large-format version. Additionally, nbc.com will feature live premiere blogs from the creators, producers or cast members for every show on the air (such as Deal or No Deal and The Office). The shows are: The first four episodes of 30 Rock and 20 Good Years; eight episodes of the new dramas Kidnapped, Friday Night Lights, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and Heroes.

CBS has made yet another deal for shows online. Google Video will now carry a few CBS series starting today. CBS will stream the premieres of three series on Google Video before they air on TV. New series Smith and The Class, and the sophomore show The New Adventures of Old Christine will be available for free streaming for four days starting today.
I'm starting to forget how many ways we can watch The Class now. Let's see Google Video, innertube, TiVo, anything else? Oh yes, CBS Mondays at 8 p.m., but that's on TV. Speaking of The Class, we will have the pilot review of that sitcom in a few days. So check back with us.