Olson's Observations

Reading time: 6 – 10 minutes

As long time readers know, I have been without cable TV for about five months now. Wow, I can’t even believe it has been that long. I thought it had been a couple months at most but, thanks to my blog archive, I know it was mid-August when I dropped cable TV. Apparently I haven’t missed having cable too much which is not surprising considering how busy I am and the fact that we did install the old bunny ears to get the standard local channels but I think a lot of what has made the past five months without cable so great is the proliferation of video on the net.

A month or so after I cancelled cable some major networks got into video on the net in a major way. There are also a lot of independent players that are producing incredible content. Here is an outline of the services/sites I have been using to get my media fix over the last few months.

Major Networks:

ABC: now has a great video platform on their site which allows viewers to watch their top shows including Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives and Lost.

The player itself is nicely done although I would like a “full screen” viewing option. I also like the sponsorship approach. ABC has decided to go with one sponsor per show and they insert about three 30 second spots for that sponsor (which are usually interactive) per show. Seems like a win for ABC, the viewer and the advertiser since it:

1. Creates more revenue for ABC
2. Allows the viewer to watch on demand and save about 15 minutes of commercials (time is money right?)
3. Allows the advertiser to have a clear 100% share-of-voice channel

Check it out if you get a chance and let me (and ABC) know what you think.

Fox: I haven’t spent too much time with the Fox platform at this point since my favorite Fox show, House, is not one of the shows you can watch (so if I miss it I simply miss it). However, Standoff is also a pretty good show so when I miss that show I will use “Fox On Demand.”

The Fox player is based on MySpace which is a negative but they have done a decent job of putting things together. Each show has its own MySpace page where you can watch the most recent episodes and some past episodes (ABC includes more past episodes of their shows). Again, the MySpace tie in is not the best way to present the shows but it works and the video quality is good.

The Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim: I was psyched when the Cartoon Network launched a video player for their Adult Swim content. I am big Aqua Teen Hunger Force fan (although this season hasn’t been terribly great) and without cable I was unable to see the new episodes. Quite frankly, the episodes were on too late on Sunday’s anyway so I never got to see them. The advent of the Adult Swim Fix player solved both of my issues.

Adult Swim Fix started as a windows media tie in for the first couple weeks which didn’t work very well but they soon upgraded to be a better platform/layout. The player is great for watching the latest episodes of each Adult Swim show the week after they air but it becomes hard/impossible to go back 3 or 4 episodes if you miss something. The advertising is sparse now but I thin they’ll stick with the current single pre-roll ad per show which is about right.

Sports: Major League Baseball, while off right now, has a great live game feed on the net for only $14.95 per month which is a great price especially if you are saving $50+ on cable each month. The MLB was the early mover with video on the net and they actually power many other sports video on the net programs.

The one sport that I wish I could get online would be football (and the Tour de France too). I miss my Pats. However, I can get about 8 or 9 games a year with the bunny ears so it’s not too bad. C’mon NFL – get with it!

ESPN could do better with video on the net as well. They are in a prime place to be the primary sports video player on the net. Imagine Sports Center on demand on your computer or iPod video. Sahhhhweeeet!

Other Notes: True cable channels haven’t really made the jump to video on the web for the most part. The History Channel has a player to view clips of certain shows (the one channel I really miss from cable is the History Channel) so they are getting close. The Discovery Channel also has a little video but nothing robust and no full shows. I believe more cable channel will make he move soon though as the traditional broadcast stations prove the value of video on the net.

The Independents:

There is a lot of great independent video content on the web as well. A good resource for that type of content is Network2.tv. Here are some of my favorite shows:

Ask A Ninja: This show is incredible. Shows have been coming out infrequently lately but when they come out they are hilarious! Check out the site and catch up on past videos. You can also order a DVD of their content as well.

The Show with Zefrank: Another great show with top notch production values. Watch this show for witty commentary on current events and to laugh a little too.

Something to be Desired: A great web sitcom produced/written by Justin Kownacki. You can catch up on past seasons/episodes on the website. Justin is also looking for donations to help with the bandwidth bill so please click here if you can help.

Galacticast: This is another favorite of mine and many other people as well. Check them out for some laughs and sci-fi goodness.

Other Notes: There are a lot more great independent shows on the web so search and you shall find. AniBoom.com has some great cartoons. Pawky.com has great independent short films. Network2.tv has a directory of it all so start your search there.

Conclusion:

I have really enjoyed trying all the new video on the net offerings and learning about new independent content. I urge all of you to start checking out video on the net. It is in the early days still but it is definitely the future.

You can also rent TV shows on DVD from Netflix with all of the money you’d be saving from cable. I actually watched seasons 1 -3 (the whole run) of Arrested Development over the past month or so and I am glad I did (thanks Rick!). It is a great show (actually – it is probably the best TV show I have seen in a long time and definitely the best sitcom I have ever seen) and I may never have had the time/found it if I still had cable to turn to. Make sure to let me know what you like to watch on the net. I am always up for some new stuff!

- Thanks to Chris Brogan for the image inspiration.