ABC was the first network to have some its programming, including Desperate Housewives, released via iTunes last year. It's been a solid success for both ABC parent company Walt Disney Co. and iTunes owner Apple, but Disney has indicated that it will move its programming on to additional platforms.

"Other companies with on-demand products will feature some of our content in the near future," chief financial officer Tom Staggs said, reported Reuters. He made the announcement at an investor event and said that while the iTunes partnership "has not been a giant mover in terms of the bottom line" that it is "an important catalyst for where the business is going." He said that Disney would remain "platform agnostic."

According to a report last year, while Housewives was tops on TV, it was Lost that was the top seller on iTunes. Numbers for specific shows have not been released, but around 1.5 million episodes of ABC television have now been downloaded on iTunes since the service launched three months ago. Sounding a more positive note, Staggs said: "The [iTunes] deal has exceeded our expectations in terms of how quickly the shows have been downloaded" according to FT.

NBC, which followed ABC on to the iTunes service, is going one step further and crediting the service for an increase in 18–49 demo TV ratings for The Office, reported TV Week. The article said that not everyone agrees with this assessment, but pointed out that Lost and Desperate Housewives are both up in the ratings since this time last year. Desperate Housewives' total audience is up 7 percent and 18–49 ratings are up 3 percent.

Further underlining the importance of Desperate Housewives and Lost, Variety reported that Staggs said the show would account for $1 billion in profit over the next five years.

The various original reports can be found at Reuters, FT, TV Week and Variety.

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