I know that everyone is talking about this story of how Disney/ABC is making hit shows such as Desperate Housewives and Alias available on the internet the day after broadcast. Much of the commentary is how revolutionary this business model is but it's really not.

Yes, ABC will post to its website episodes of some of the network's most popular shows the morning after they're shown on TV. The shows will contain commercials that cannot be skipped. While it's great that these shows will be available on demand the business model that they're supported by is really nothing new. Forcing people to watch non-skippable commercials while tied to a box-like viewing device is roughly reminiscent of all television viewing that was ever done prior to the invention first of the VCR and then DVR.

Every other week there's a new study showing viewers are/aren't willing to watch ads/pay for ad-free video on demand. Networks and other content providers would be wise in my opinion to offer both options as a way to appeal to roughly the entire audience. If someone wants ad-free paid content, then there's something for them. If they don't mind ads in order to get free VOD then they have that option as well. Of course this probably isn't attractive to providers since they like to collect ad dollars based on solid numbers and this makes that proposition fuzzy at best. They might actually have to reverse their business model and charge advertisers for the number of actual ads viewed instead of charging them for the number of ads that MIGHT be viewed. The problem with doing that for VOD is that the advertisers would probably like it and demand it on broadcast television as well and that would mean the collapse of the network advertising game as it exists.