Less than 24 hours after NBC Universal announced their ad-supported TV episode downloading service, ABC and AOL announced jointly a similar service.
The Walt Disney Co.'s Disney-ABC Television Group announced a deal with
Time Warner's AOL today that calls for ABC to offer free, full-length
prime-time episodes online a day after they premiere. ABC's free
prime-time shows, which will begin appearing on AOL Video today, will include the likes of The Bachelor, Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty. Users will be able to view about four episodes per TV series at any one time.
As with the NBC Universal service, ad-supported. Viewers will receive one locally targeted ad and three national ones for every hour of programming. It doesn't appear they have NBCU's subscription service though, which is sort of like a Season Pass for a show.