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ABC Strikes Video Deal With Veoh

ABC wants a piece of the World Wide Web audience, and decided to put aside its conservative attitude for a change. The company closed a deal with video-site Veoh.com, to will feature full-length episodes of the TV network’s most popular shows.
Although the financial terms have not been disclosed, and a press release from ABC is still to be expected, one thing is for sure: Veoh.com will feature prime time shows, meant to raise their audience from the 28 million viewers to date to many millions more.
ABC opted this year for a second video deal (after last year’s deal with AOL) to promote its programs on other websites than its own.
“Lost,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Grey’s Anatomy” or “Ugly Betty” fans will be able to watch their favorite shows on Veoh.com, which is somewhat similar to the popular YouTube.
Veoh will also feature ABC offerings and commercials, under the agreement with the television network.
In addition to that, the independent video site will also play short clips and highlight from ESPN programs.
As Matt Murphy, senior vice president ESPN Media Networks, told The New York Times, it’s imperative for the company to constantly re-evaluate their business and look for new partnerships and business models.
ABC started the online audience-oriented strategy last year, when they closed a deal with AOL for the distribution of its primetime shows. It looks like its own website viewers aren’t enough these days.
Dmitri Shapiro, Veoh founder and chief innovation officer, said as quoted by the NYT that networks are currently rushing in to strike similar deals, after they realized that most of their viewership happens outside of their own sites.
CBS Interactive is no stranger to such deals either, after it announced earlier this month an agreement with Yahoo for the distribution of its shows online.
It seems that these days, having an online strategy pays off, and television networks have begun to realize that aiming at more than their own website audience is the key to a successful business.

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