BT and The Walt Disney Company (EMEA) have announced plans for ABC On Demand, which launches on the IPTV service on September 15.
The portal will be home to full seasons of shows from Disney’s network TV production arm ABC Studios including Cougar Town, Private Practice, Desperate Housewives, Criminal Minds and Brothers & Sisters. The shows will be made available after the UK linear TV broadcast window.
Customers will be able to view ABC TV On Demand as part of BT Vision’s TV Pack for £6.99 per month. Individual episodes will be priced at 99p.
“The ABC brand stands for innovative, high quality US television production. Leveraging this to launch an ABC TV On Demand branded service is a logical next step in our digital distribution strategy,” said Catherine Powell, SVP/GM, Media Distribution, The Walt Disney Company EMEA.
Disney’s previous approach was the linear TV channel ABC1, which closed in September 2007. The linear channel approach is one still in play for fellow US network CBS through its partnership with Chellozone.
Disney is not alone in the use of a branded VOD portal – even though most UK viewers would be hard pressed to name which US studio produces a particular series – HBO and Warner Bros already have similar contracts in place on BT and Virgin Media.