ABC has been maybe the American television network most-resistant to fully embracing the Web. But that is now changing, with the network signing a deal with Veoh.
The deal, as revealed by the New York Times, sees ABC shows such as Lost, Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty being made available on Veoh, as well as game highlights and clips from ESPN.
Veoh Expanding Output
Veoh started out in the same way as YouTube, offering short user-submitted clips, but has of late been attempting to integrate more material from large media companies such as CBS and MTV.
This latest deal with ABC sees shows being streamed for free with an advertising revenue model on the website, although interestingly, ABC is still not open to the idea of embeds, so videos will have to be viewed in a separate window instead.
ABC Paying For Traffic
More interesting than that is the fact that ABC will be paying Veoh for any of the traffic driven to the programmes and adverts on the site, meaning Veoh are sure to give ABC a prominent position on their homepage.
ABC certainly needed to do something, as other networks are pulling ahead of it in terms of embracing the Web and making programmes available for Internet users.
Hulu Leading The Way
This includes the hugely successful joint venture between the NBC and Fox networks that is Hulu. CBS also offers its shows on Web destinations varying from Joost to Bebo, and Veoh itself.
As we discussed yesterday, the television industry has the chance to embrace the Web as a means of content distribution in a way that the music industry has so far failed to do, and hopefully this is the latest indication that is happening.
Conclusions
However, the embed issue is annoying, as ABC seem determined to force media partners to use their own media player rather than just allowing a simple embed code to make the process a whole lot simpler.
The future does look bright for Veoh though, which has just raised another $30 million in funding. This adds to the funding already obtained, and also increases the amount of big-name investors supporting the site.
