The revolution will not be televised, well not exclusively.
The revolution will have a limited run on a cable network then if the ratings are high enough it will have a second window on the network sister station of said cable network. Then the revolution which was televised will be now be available on iTunes for $1.99, but now that iTunes and iPods code has been cracked the revolution will find its way on YouTube which you'll learn about when Tila Tequila sends out a Myspace bulletin linking to it from her page. Of course the networks will have the revolution taken down from Youtube and put a two minute replay of it on their own website filled with Ford ads, cause lets face it, what's a revolution without a solid advertisement for a nice American made car. Eventually, the full revolution which was once televised, then sold, then stolen, then re-owned scaled to 120 seconds filled with ads, will eventually find its way to a full length webovision.
What the hell am I talking about? It's happening. Not only does primetime no longer start at 8/7central and end at 11/10 central, but its doesn't have to be confined to the tiny little box of yesteryear that only takes up 72" flat panel inches of your wall. Now you can watch it on the sexy and magestic 13" you stare at while the boss is in a meeting.
Find my network reviews and rankings of the best and worst places to watch TV online, after the jump.
#6) - Don't even bother. They haven't yet gotten around to figuring out what people want to see. The CW video page is filled with commercials for their shows and "previously on" clips from the top of new episodes. If you take the time to visit specific shows pages, you may find a minute or two of a new episode, but no complete shows and nothing really of interest unless the rest of the internet simultaneously crashes and you are left with working on your TPS report, or watching exclusive interviews with the cast of ALL OF US. Even then, seriously, those TPS reports need to get done. Not worth visiting, and hardly worth mentioning, but it is one of the networks so I felt compelled.
#5) - For free online television viewing, NBC has a long ways to go. Finding a video you want to see on their site isn't terribly easy. Once you think you have found the video you want, your stuck watching the 2 minute replay, which someone at NBC new media has people convinced is something viewers would actually want to watch. The 2 minute replays are a total waste and serve no point. For an hour long drama, it doesn't tell enough of what happens to be worth watching when you can get it all in 30 seconds on the "previously on" section when the show airs the following week, and who needs a 2 minutes replay of 20 Good Years? The 30 minute "play" is bad enough, a 2 minute replay is like reopening a paper cut just because. Obviously NBC is trying to point people to iTunes and pay the $1.99 to watch a show. I swore I would never pay for free TV, until I missed a few episodes of The Office and had jury duty this week and figured 6 bucks and my video ipod will save me a aboiut 66 minutes of boredom. It was incredibly easy to download from iTunes, very easy to watch.....but not sure why I want to pay money for an NBC show when the other networks will give it for free. Portability? NBC has much to learn.
Comments (5)
I've used ABC to watch 6 degrees and desperate housewives, and have found it to be easy and enjoyable while my boss is in session--
1 of 5 | Posted by hardly@work | Posted on October 26, 2006 12:16 PM
While I agree that ABC.com is easy to use, I think you downplay the other stations.
I watch Heros (the whole hour, not a two minute recap) on nbc.com. Its not tough to find at all.
MTV Overdrive is BY FAR the absolute best online tv watching experience. You can still watch full episodes of the Duel (and Two-a-Days) plus the bonus interviews with Blair are classic). It downloads quickly and is incredibly easy to find. All you do is click on "shows" and an easy to follow menu of all the shows you'd want to watch pop up. I love overdrive!
2 of 5 | Posted by gasmgrrl | Posted on October 26, 2006 1:24 PM
ABC and MTV Overdrive are awesome. (VH1 vspot is pretty good too if anyone likes VH1 shows like Flavor of Love, etc.)Vspot actually keeps a lot of the Vh1 shows that have been off the air like Kept, Flavor of Love 1, Strip Search, Supergroup etc. Very cool.
Overdrive is a little hard to navigate; I agree, but it has a really good selection of shows. Have they started showing full Laguna Beach Episodes? I always thought they didn't offer them but last night when I was looking for The Duel on Overdrive I actually found the latest Laguna Beach episode... pretty cool.
3 of 5 | Posted by shiaobundan | Posted on October 26, 2006 3:53 PM
I say ABC beats FOX, as FOX is not Mac friendly. Tried to watch the season premiere of The O.C. and couldn't. Serves me right.
4 of 5 | Posted by zuulrules | Posted on October 26, 2006 4:09 PM
Those of you into the majesty that is Adult Swim should check their site out, too (www.adultswim.com).
Click on the link at the top of the page for "Fix" to head to the Adult Swim Fix, where new episodes of their 15 minute shows are put up on Fridays, so you can watch them before they air the next week (such as "Robot Chicken" and one of my new all-time favorites, "Metalocalypse"). I don't know if you can watch them all the time, but they are definitely up on Fridays.
Thanks for the info on the other networks, too. I've been using ABC's site a lot lately to rewatch "Lost" and NBC for "Heroes." Trying to catch all the stuff I miss the first time around.
5 of 5 | Posted by Cody M. | Posted on November 1, 2006 3:38 PM