ABC logo.
© ABC
TV Wasteland: New Web Content in Fall
By: Stephen LackeyDate: Thursday, May 08, 2008
ABC was the first network to put full episodes of their series on the web two years ago. With this year’s upfronts, they intend to remain the true innovators for the online audience as we as being the most exciting network for advertisers. Currently, over 7,000 pieces of video can be found as a part of ABC’s video player with exits on ABC.com and on affiants such as AOL. This number is doubled from this time last year. ABC won an interactive Emmy in 2006 for its player and they seem to be hoping for another one with the slightly vague upfront announcement that there will be more features to make the player more user friendly and more original short form programming. The network declined to offer any details on this new plan this early in the game.
If ABC’s current offerings are any indication of what’s to be expected ,then there will be more behind the scenes featurettes from popular ABC series and other originals tied in some way to current ABC hits. A current series called Starcrossed features stars from ABC’s various shows interviewing each other. The show has generated more than 2.2 million views for the first three episodes since its March 31st launch according to TV Week. Another similar series called Dance Studio breaks down dances from recent episodes of Dancing with the Stars airs as part of the ABC player as well as on TVGuide.com and on Hulu. Finally Lostscape, is a recently launched interactive environment tied to the hit series Lost where viewers can watch clips from the show. If these current features are any indication of what to expect from upcoming upgrades to ABC’s online presence it appears there will be more specials that further enhance the fan experience for series that are already popular on the network in the traditional television broadcast sense. Comscore reports that the average viewer of the ABC Video player spends about 51 minutes with it once the first video is played.
Web video is the future of television style entertainment and it appears to be gaining ground much quicker than many analysts may have expected. The numbers are still small for online video dollars but they appear to be increasing at a rapid rate. This year 1.4 billion dollars is expected to flow into online video where the number of ad dollars for traditional broadcasting hovers around 70 billion.
Like a broken record from week to week, the shows to watch are again on Thursday and Friday nights. Smallville is much more interesting now – if for no other reason than to see how Lex will be written out of the series. Last week’s, Lost was a bit slow so hopefully this week will regain some momentum with a Locke flashback. The end of the season for Supernatural is quickly approaching and Dean is still set to have his soul taken to hell. Hopefully, this week there will be some movement on that story arc. Finally, Battlestar Galactica has also stalled just a bit so the anticipation for some big events is high this week.
Thursday
SMALLVILLE (CW, 8PM EST) QUEST
A cloaked stranger attacks Lex, leaving him with Kryptonian symbols carved on his chest. They were intended as a message for Clark, who investigates with Chloe and learns that one member from Veritas is still alive and hiding in a church.
SUPERNATURAL (CW, 9PM EST) TIME IS ON MY SIDE
Sam and Dean investigate zombies in a small Pennsylvania town, where they find a doctor (Billy Drago) with a sinister agenda. Meanwhile, Bobby learns where Bela (Lauren Cohan) is hiding, so Dean confronts her, leaving Sam to deal with the doctor.
LOST (NBC, 10PM EST) CABIN FEVER
Locke discovers the location of Jacob's cabin, and life aboard the freighter becomes increasingly perilous. Dr. Christian Shephard: John Terry. Richard Alpert: Nestor Carbonell. Matthew Abbadon: Lance Reddick. John Locke (age 5): Charles Henry Wyson. John Locke (age 16): Caleb Steinmeyer.
Friday
GHOST WHISPERER (CBS, 8PM EST) STRANGLEHOLD
Melinda looks into a 1979 murder trial prosecuted by her father, hoping to find a connection to his disappearance.
SARAH JANE ADVENTURES (SCIFI, 7:30PM EST) WHATEVER HAPPENED TO SARAH JANE?
Conclusion: Maria meets a young Sarah Jane in 1964 just before a pivotal moment for the latter, but it will be up to Maria's dad, Alan, to set things right before the meteor hits Earth.
DOCTOR WHO (SCIFI, 9PM EST) PLANET OF THE OOD
The Ood are encountered on the Ood Sphere, where the Doctor and Donna learn terrible things about the human race.
MOONLIGHT (CBS, 9PM EST) WHAT’S LEFT BEHIND
Mick's past comes into sharper focus for Beth when the grandson of his World War II buddy is kidnapped. The disappearance forces Mick to deal with some secrets from his troubled life.
BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (SCIFI, 10PM EST) FAITH
Unlikely alliances are forged after the search for Earth takes an unexpected turn.
Saturday
ROBIN HOOD (BBCA, 9PM EST) CHILD HOOD
A young boy warns Robin that Gisborne has developed an indestructible suit of armor after accidentally stumbling upon Gisborne's weapon-testing site.
Sunday
SIMPSONS (FOX, 8PM EST) MONA LEAVES-A
Homer's mother, Mona (voice of Glenn Close), returns, but Homer is reluctant to trust her because she abandoned him so many times as a child. She dies before he can forgive her, but he's able to grant her last wish. Lance Armstrong has a voice cameo as himself.
AMERICAN DAD (FOX, 9:30PM EST) STANY STICKERS II: THE LEGEND OF OLLIE’S GOLD
