TV Networks Go Online-Video Crazy

NBC's launching a Web site that lets you download free shows on your PC, but you can't skip commercials, or transfer them to a portable player. ABC's streaming shows for free on AOL.com and on its own Web site, but you must watch them on your computer. And while ABC, CBS, Fox, and NBC all sell commercial-free downloads of their shows, NBC's shows won't play on iPods, and ABC's will only work on iPods. Confused yet?

I certainly am. Our choices for watching the shows we want to watch are growing by the minute, but more and more, we're being forced to watch the way they want us to watch. First we're told we can download "Heroes" from iTunes—and then we can't. Then we can stream shows over the Web—but we can't skip commercials, and we have to watch within a certain time frame, and we have to use our laptops instead of that box in the living room. You can transfer some shows to one portable player, but not another.

Take NBC's latest announcement. According to the New York Times, NBC Direct will "soft" launch next month, and you'll be able download the network's hottest new shows (like "Heroes" and "Bionic Woman") to your PC. The download is free, but you'll only have a week to watch, and you won't be able to skip commercials, and you can't transfer the shows to a portable player or to a DVD. NBC says it will also start charging for shows that you could keep and transfer to a portable player...sometime next year. Maybe. And now that NBC has pulled its shows from iTunes and jumped to Amazon, you can't watch "The Office" on an iPod anymore (and you'll need a TiVo to watch Amazon Unbox shows on your TV).

Meanwhile, ABC announced that it'll start streaming its shows for free on AOL.com, presumably to expand the online audience for its shows, which have been available on ABC.com for many months now. You'll get to see the shows a day after broadcast, but you'll have to watch them on your PC instead of your flat-screen. And while you can still download ABC shows on iTunes (not surprising, given Steve Jobs' cozy relationship with Disney, the parent company of ABC), you can't buy them through Windows-friendly shows like Amazon Unbox, so no "Lost" on the road unless you're an iPod user.

For their parts, CBS and Fox seem to be taking a "wait and see" attitude; their shows are available for download on iTunes and Amazon, and Fox has yet to launch an online streaming site—yet (Fox parent News Corp. has supposedly teamed up with NBC for an online video site called Hulu.com, though the deal is looking murky in the wake of NBC Direct). CBS streams many of its shows online, although (as with ABC on AOL.com), you'll have to watch them on your PC.

Basically, what we're seeing here is the big broadcast TV networks (enabled by digital behemoths like Amazon and Apple) thrashing around for an online video strategy, leaving us—the audience—left to wonder whether we'll still be able to watch "Heroes" on our TiVos via Amazon Unbox tomorrow, or "24" on our video Walkmen (or iPod, for that matter). As it stands, we need three different devices to watch the downloadable shows we want to watch—and we've got to watch them within seven days, or 24 hours, or with commercials, depending on the service.

OK, enough with my rant. Innovation is often exciting and frustrating at the same time, and that's certainly the case with online video. If you're hoping the situation will settle down soon, don't hold your breath—instead, you might want to buy a pair of rabbit ears and watch TV the old-fashioned way.

Update: In my original post, I wrote that CBS doesn't stream its shows online; in fact, it does, using a service dubbed Innertube. (Thanks Matt!)

Related:
NBC to Offer Downloads of Its Shows [New York Times; registration required]
ABC's AOL Pact Marks Web's Growing TV Allure [Wall Street Journal]