[00:04.41]Apple’s iPod profoundly changed the way people experience music.
[00:10.77]What will it do for television?
[00:12.63]The industry was intrigued by Wednesday’s announcement
[00:16.24]that episodes of the hit ABC shows “Desperate Housewives”
[00:20.83]and “Lost” will be available for Apple’s new video iPod.
[00:24.31]Episodes will go on sale for $1.99 on iTunes
[00:30.34]the day after they are broadcast.
[00:32.09]For ABC and its parent Walt Disney Co.,
[00:35.58]the bet is that the new technology will bring in more new fans of the programs
[00:40.51]than will be taken away from watching them on traditional broadcast television.
[00:45.32]The network’s affiliates were not told the deal was in the works before Wednesday,
[00:50.35]and they’re the people most likely to be concerned about its impact.
[00:54.30]Now the iPod will join digital video recorders and DVDs
[00:59.00]as another way of seeing television programs
[01:01.84]other than their regularly scheduled times on the ABC stations.
[01:06.32]Leon Long, chairman of ABC’s affiliate board said if viewers
[01:11.57]have the choice of watching “Desperate Housewives”
[01:14.54]on their wide-screen television with surround sound or a two-inch iPod screen,
[01:20.15]they will almost certainly watch it on TV.
[01:22.44]The iPod option will likely be attractive to people who missed an episode
[01:27.25]and want to keep up with the story, he said.
[01:29.89]He noted that two of the three series ABC is offering to iTunes
[01:35.14]are serials that require viewers to follow story lines that play out over several months.
[01:40.62]Initially, the downloads might also appeal to techies
[01:44.43]who want to try out the new product and might not necessarily be fans of the programs,
[01:49.58]which could bring these shows a new audience.
[01:52.21]As for the chance it will pull people away from his station, Long said,
[01:57.03]“It’s certainly a risk but I don’t think it’s a great risk.”
