AOL, a subsidiary of Time Warner, announced it will air two TV programs on the Web a week before the shows premier on TV. Studio 60 on Sunset Strip and Twenty Good Years will debut on AOL prior to their respective debuts on NBC later this month. Media companies such as Time Warner realize that viewers want to watch their favorite shows on their own schedules through their favorite download options, not when and through the channels networks and advertisers choose.
More and more consumers are choosing to watch TV and listen to radio through their computers. The once monolithic TV audience is becoming increasingly fragmented demographically. TV networks must provide an increasing varied array of entertainment options, or risk losing their audience to other forms of online, more interactive entertainment. But if this experiment in providing TV shows through a variety of distribution channels works, targeted advertising will really pick up. Those software companies that lock in online distribution channels can increase product placement advertising specifically geared towards those viewers most likely to respond favorably. Advertising will become show specific. Revenues from targeted advertising will rise dramatically.
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