However, if you read the article, there's more to ABC's video service than just the delayed newscast. Betterquality video and 30 day archiving are part of the package. I suspect added features, beyond those onegets by simply personally recording a newscast, will form the basis of making it a successful package to repurpose existing material. Whether the features being offered or contemplated are enough to reach a critical mass of customers and profits, only time and the marketplace will tell.
Let's examine the latest reported "mistake" - ABCnews.com charging for access to video content while protecting existing distribution channels. They have established and, presumably, profitable relationships with existing affiliates - partnerships that have mutually worked for long periods of time. What is to be gained by putting this relationship in jeopardy by making online video content available without any restrictions? What is foolish about protecting bigger cash-flows against newer and unproven channels? Is it really a hardship for viewers that missed evening broadcasts to wait until the next morning for a delayed viewing? Increased flexibility offered to viewers should cost more and NOT jeopardize healthy cash-flows. If ABCNews.com ever decided to release video content simultaneously with their broadcasts, then they should embed local affiliate advertising, somehow, someway.
If the video content is routinely old (e.g. worthless) by morning, then I would question the value of putting the content online in the first place. Given that there are infinite substitutable sources online to get the “news” of the day, why should ABCNews.com go through the effort and sustain such costs? Video news content should offer something different than just a broadcaster simply reading the news that is only relevant for less than 12 hours. I suspect that many subscribers will prefer watching clips of the evening news and Nightline the following morning (given that many people commute during Peter Jennings and later sleep during Ted Koppel). They will also likely enjoy watching video reports contextually tied to their interests, well after original air-dates.
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