ABC.com to Relaunch Video Player

BURBANK, August 4: ABC.com
will relaunch its Interactive Emmy-winning streaming video player this fall
following its two-month trial of the service, which allows visitors to the ABC
site to access full episodes of key shows like Lost and Desperate Housewives for free.

“The launch of ABC.com’s
broadband player was a huge step for us as we strategically reposition our
websites from marketing tools to rich entertainment platforms,” said Anne
Sweeney, the co-chair of Disney Media Networks, and president of the Disney-ABC
Television Group. “The research that has come out of the trial helped prove
true several hypotheses regarding our consumers and their online viewing
patterns. With the data we’ve collected, we are better equipped to move forward
with our advertisers and affiliates to create new multiplatform opportunities
for our consumers.”

Launched earlier this year,
the ABC.com video player provides access to Lost, Desperate Housewives, Commander in Chief and Alias. Ten national advertisers including AT&T, Cingular, Ford, Johnson
& Johnson, Pfizer, Procter & Gamble, Toyota, Unilever’s Suave,
Universal Pictures and Walt Disney Pictures all took part in the trial.

In the months of May and
June, the broadband player served over 5.7 million episode requests, totaling
16 million video streams. Based on survey research conducted for ABC by Frank
N. Magid Associates during the trial, 79 percent of those surveyed had a
positive online viewing experience and 87 percent responded that they were
likely to recommend the site to others. The average age of users was 29, and
more than half were college graduates. Users of the broadband player were
almost equally split between males (47 percent) and females (53 percent). The
majority of online viewing for episodes occurred within the first 24 hours of
their broadcast on ABC. On average, 87 percent of users surveyed were able to
recall the advertiser who sponsored the episode they viewed.

“The research we gathered
from this trial has been invaluable as we move forward with next phase of the
broadband player,” said Albert Cheng, the executive VP of digital media at the
Disney-ABC Television Group. “We have been extremely pleased with the consumer
feedback from the trial, and are busy working on some minor adjustments to the
broadband player in order to again make full episodes available to consumers
this fall. When we relaunch, the basic concept of ad-supported, free to the
consumer full-length episodes will return along with some added features to
enhance the consumer experience.”