Microsoft, AOL, iTunes Aim for More Small Screen Entertainment
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Written By Reprise Media | March 15, 2006 | Share This
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We’ve got developments to share in the field of shrinking ’small screen’ TV fare onto even smaller computer and portable media player screens - technology is advancing so rapidly that in a few years, TV shows might be so small you won’t even be able to watch them at all (we’re crossing our fingers).
Bringing the magic of UHF online ClickZ says that AOL’s gone live with their In2TV service today, which brings over 2 dozen full length TV shows to the net, straight from the medium’s semi-forgotten past. The roster of series reads like your average sick day from the mid-’90s - you can watch “Wonder Woman,” “Alice,” “Growing Pains,” “Perfect Strangers” (need we go on?) all for free. Just like broadcast television, it’s paid for by advertisers. If you want to relive a classic episode of “Brisco County Jr.,” expect to endure about two minutes of ads per half hour from companies like Kraft, Kia and Hershey.
Bracket this Move over, office pool - thanks to Apple, there’s now one more way for the NCAA basketball tourney to subtract money from your wallet. Gizmodo reports that iTunes will carry all kinds of ‘March Madness’ content. Edited versions of early round games can be had for the usual $1.99 a pop one day after they air, and games from the semis and final four rounds will be available uncut. College hoops fanatics can sign up for the season pass option, which provides a subscription to all 63 match-ups for just $19.99. According to the press release, iTunes will also carry classic tournament clashes from years past and various highlights compilations.
It’s been a busy week for iTunes. Last week they debuted subscription formats for The Daily Show and The Colbert Report, and yesterday Digg pointed us to iTunes’ full-length feature bow - a made for TV Disney film, High School Musical, priced at $9.99 (after mistakenly posted at $1.99). It’s not exactly Citizen Kane, and Digg-ers didn’t seem that impressed; they expressed a general reluctance to buy any low resolution movie for a price barely less than the average bonus-laden DVD.
It’s a ’steal’…get it? MSN Video has an agreement with NBC to stream encore ‘on demand’ viewings of the first two episodes of Heist, a new show about…dum dum dum…a heist. PaidContent says that users can watch a 16-minute preview online now, which will be available until Heist premieres on traditional television March 22.
Topics: Media Convergence |