[volcano]

I was watching CNN the other day, when they aired a segment about the increased popularity of downloading episodes of your favorite TV shows online. My first thought? iTunes, of course.

But now, apparently networks are wanting to release more and more episodes of TV shows online - for free! Yes, that's right - free. What's the catch? Advertising. Included within every downloaded video will be advertising - and CNN apparently reported that you can't skip through it.

What do you think this will do to the iTMS in terms of its video-related content?

Would you rather purchase an episode of your favorite TV show via iTunes without commercials, or would you rather download those same episodes for free - at the expense of invasive advertising?

Here's a link to the article:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/interne....ap/index.html

[mduell]

I enjoy the free programming Comedy Central puts online. Shows like the Daily Show are cut up into clips, so you can't watch a whole episode straight, but most (all?) of the show content is available. The site has some ads, but using firefox and adblock seems to bypass them.

With ABC's free-shows-with-ads-the-morning-after and DVD sets coming out sooner after seasons end, paying $35+ for a low quality, heavily restricted copy from iTMS doesn't appeal to me at all.

[His Dudeness]

What's the big deal? They're broadcast over the airwaves for free anyway.