While a number of TV networks have tested the waters recently by offering TV episodes via their websites, it is ABC that is taking the plunge by offering a number of shows online on a permanent basis.

According to AdAge.com, a service called My ABC will launch in May and will offer consumers the ability to download shows free of charge. "Viewers will have the ability to access shows such as Lost, Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy on ABC.com," Bob Iger, CEO of ABC's parent company Disney, told attendees of the Bear Stearns media conference last week. "They will be ad supported, free to the consumer."

The advertising on the online episodes will not necessarily be the same the conventional TV advertising, and the new scheme will complement the existing scheme via iTunes where users can pay $1.99 for an advertising-free episode. Iger seemed keen to reassure advertisers who may be worried about download services cutting into their advertising reach, and said that My ABC would offer a new avenue for advertisers to gain exposure. "There is so much greater consumption of media, the opportunity for advertisers are greater; look at what Google has managed to do," said Iger. "Our job is to create the new networks and new direct commerce opportunities."

ABC previously aired one episode of Desperate Housewives on its website, but it was just the season one special that gave an overview of the episodes up until that point. Even if they are free, ABC will most likely restrict the online episodes to stop foreign viewers watching them. The sale of international rights to TV shows raises a lot of money, and those rights would be undermined if a viewer could view the episodes for free online before they aired in their country.

The original report can be found over at AdAge.com.

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