AOL, WB To Offer Older TV Online via P2P
November 14, 2005 | by Geoff Duncan
AOL and WB have announced In2TV, a new service planning to offer high-quality video of thousands of older TV shows for free via a P2P-style network.
In an aggressive new foray into bringing television content to broadband-enabled Internet users, America Online and Warner Brothers
Domestic Cable Distribution have announced a free online video service
which will offer thousands of episodes of older television programming
via the Internet using a peer-to-peer file sharing network controlled
by AOL. The new online offering, dubbed "In2TV," will be available via AOL's Video on Demand, Video Search, and AOL Television
sites in early 2006 and will initially feature full-length episodes
from television series including television evergreens like The Fugitive, and Maverick, more-recent fare such as Growing Pains, Sisters, and Perfect Strangers, classic sitcoms like Alice and Welcome Back, Kotter, to genre favorites like The Adventures of Brisco County Junior, La Femme Nikita, and Babylon 5.
Programming will initially be categorized into six channels, within an
expanding lineup to accommodate additional shows added to the service.
In2TV will also feature original interactive content to accompany the
episodes, such as games, quizzed, polls, and trivia contests. In2TV
will be adding episodes and programming during 2006; a list of shows to
be offered by In2TV at launch appears below. Episodes presented
via In2TV will feature 15- to 30-second video advertising totalling 1
to 2 minutes within each 30 minute block, and will also feature
sponsors and banner advertising in addition to in-stream video ads.
Initially, the technology behind In2TV will be sponsored by General
Motors. And the technology behind In2TV is raising as many
eyebrows as AOL's aggressive new entry into the online TV field.
Although few details are available—and what details have been released
are sketchy—In2TV will rely on a new video format called AOL Hi-Q which
purports to be able to deliver DVD-quality video quickly and
efficiently using a peer-to-peer style file sharing network technology
AOL has developed in partnership with Kontiki.
According to AOL, the "AOL Hi-Q video player provides a high resolution
display with image quality designed for full-screen viewing on PC
monitors or televisions capable of showing a PC interface." AOL Hi-Q
supports with digital rights management (DRM) technology designed to
help protect the copyrighted television content, and, reportedly, users
will be able to access AOL Hi-Q content via a software plug-in,
although there's no word on what platforms (other than Windows) the
software will support, or whether programming can be burned to CD or
DVD, or transferred to portable devices like the PSP or video-capable
iPods. In addition to installing special software, AOL Hi-Q users
must also participate in a new file sharing network, a closed
peer-to-peer system which AOL plans to use to distribute video content
to users. According to AOL, their network does not present the privacy
and security risks of other peer-to-peer systems (such as Grokster or
Kazaa) because AOL will maintain full control over the network and the
software. By utilizing storage and bandwidth paid for by its customers
to distribute video—rather than on network infrastructure provisioned
by AOL itself—AOL is simultaneously lowering its costs to provide the
online video service while potentially delivering better performance to
users. However, some users, particularly business users, may not
appreciate their bandwidth and storage being utilized by a third party
outside their control, and it remains to be seen whether AOL can shake
the popular stigma currently associated with the category of
peer-to-peer sharing software. AOL is starting off its AOL Hi-Q
service with a trial featuring roughly 100 Hi-Q video items (including
movie and video game trailer, plus music videos) and plans to expand
the trail with additional videos and, eventually, full-length
television episodes on the In2TV service. In2TV launch programming is to include:
Post Your Comment...Comments
Geoff Duncan on Nov 16th, 2005 at 10:46 AM:
Good questions: until the software is out there and has been examined, we won't really have the answers. My guess at the moment is that AOL pays for the bandwidth utilization on their own backbones (and remember: AOL owns a lot of big pipes); users of the In2TV service would presumably be responsible for any bandwidth costs associated with downloading television content, as well as hosting and serving In2TV content for other users. If you pay by the byte (upstream or downsteam) In2TV might not be any cheaper than sattellite or cable: who knows?
Rob Hoover on Nov 19th, 2005 at 6:07 AM:
I truely believe that all p2p networks need a secure central server. You can not allow users to upload anything to the network without the copyright for the upload. ie from creative commons. Users that use p2p now will change the file name and re-name and re-name just to get the download. The movie is never what it says and the quality is poor. Truely Supply the Demand with pay-per-view or video - on - demand. stay away from DRM. it doesn't work. no one on a p2p network wants to pay, they want it free and they will break the copyright law.
We need to get away from the term 'p2p' and come up with a legal p2p platform that use's the technology in combination with a local server for members uploads and downloads. call it like 'peer 3' networks.
"I use on Demand peer 3 networks" supply me with real-time on Demand when the supply is needed.
Rob Hoover, WeDid.com
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Jim Rice on Nov 15th, 2005 at 12:31 PM:
Great idea but who pays for the bandwidth? Upstream will be an issue. How do the owners of the physical network assets get paid? Higher access charges? Variable rates based on usage?