Thanks to a partnership with Disney UK, LoveFilm will offer on-demand streaming access to ABC Studios’ library of network and cable series.

This includes shows like Castle, Lost, Desperate Housewives, Happy Endings, Grey’s Anatomy, Ghost Whisperer and Brothers & Sisters. Shows will be launched as full seasons after their first run on UK pay and/or free TV, Amazon says. Previous seasons of some series will be available to members before the next season airs in the UK.

“LoveFilm members want top class TV shows, as well as movies, to watch instantly as part of their subscription. Today’s deal with Disney brings them access to some of the best American TV content ever produced. LoveFilm’s unique combination of world class movies and TV shows ensures that LoveFilm is the first and only port of call for those who want subscription entertainment on demand,” says LoveFilm CEO Simon Calver.

“ABC TV On Demand is home to high quality, compelling US drama, produced by ABC Studios, and launching this service with LoveFilm means we are able to offer viewers more choice and flexibility in how and when they can view full seasons of these gripping shows, through one easy-to-use service,” adds Catherine Powell, senior vice president / general manager, Media Distribution, The Walt Disney Company.

Other recent LoveFilm streaming deals include Sony, BBC and ITV.

Now, competition is significantly higher for LoveFilm, as Netflix just entered the UK market last week.

Cabs will be able to offer weather, news, and news-you-can-use features, which will run in a loop.

Dave Davis, President and General Manager of WABC-TV in New York stated that this, “significantly expands the growth opportunities ahead for our taxi TV programming and advertising business,” according to Deadline.

The deal also encompasses cabs located in Boston, San Francisco, Chicago, Anaheim, Kansas City, Denver, Columbus, and Charlotte. With those additional cabs, that brings the total to around 10,000 cabs where ABC content will be shown.

According to the companies, this deal will “lay the groundwork for additional expansion into new markets… in the coming months“.

What do you think of advertising in cabs? Tell us what you think in the comment area below.

Here’s what this entails:

• ABC News will become the premier news provider on Yahoo News
• ABC’s GoodMorningAmerica.com launches on Yahoo today at GMA.yahoo.com
• New original web series featuring ABC News anchors. This will start with programs called “Newsmakers,” “Around the World with Christiane Amanpour,” and “This Could Be Big.” Others will follow in the coming months.
• The editorial teams of both media organizations will work together to develop news content.
• The sales teams will also work together on advertising solutions.
• Both will retain editorial control of their own properties.

“Yahoo! is committed to building the richest set of premium and personalized content experiences for our users. Our deep collaboration with ABC News further strengthens Yahoo! as the No. 1 online news source, greatly enhancing our already robust news content,” said Ross Levinsohn, executive vice president of Americas at Yahoo. “ABC News and Ben Sherwood’s vision is completely symbiotic with ours; together we can create highly engaging experiences for more than 100 million users a month that will set the standard for the industry.”

“This relationship will give ABC News an unrivaled ability to reach across the Web, combining Yahoo!’s vast distribution and cutting-edge technology with our award-winning journalism.  For years, we’ve proudly proclaimed that more Americans get their news from ABC News than any other source,” said ABC News President Ben Sherwood.  “Going forward, we will greatly expand this leadership by building a connection with a whole new online audience.”

Clearly Yahoo isn’t letting that lack of a CEO slow them down.

That unpleasant reality is something that faces an upcoming sitcom that’s scheduled to appear on NBC’s Fall lineup. Based on the reaction of the Twitterverse, NBC’s new rom-com sitcom, Whitney may have failed before its first viewer has even seen it.

In order to promote Whitney, NBC put up a bunch of billboards in the major cities, all with the idea of spreading the word and catching the eyes of folks who are looking for that special show to call their own. One of the billboards, which comes courtesy of the Daily Billboard Facebook page, leads this article, and to say the Twitter reaction to it and the others was quite derisive is something of an understatement:

The thing is, it wasn’t just random viewers who were reacting negatively. It was people who could be considered peers of the show’s leads. From the removed article, which is still alive in my Google Reader:

If you go check #RejectedWhitneyPromo right now, you’ll find comedians, writers, etc. of all levels of notoriety bashing the show without the first episode having even made it to air.

And so, we checked, and guess what? Kroeger’s right. Reaction to the upcoming Whitney, thanks in large part to those maligned billboards, is harsh. So much so, in fact, the idea of the show being doomed before it even airs seems like a real possibility. It doesn’t help that the early buzz concerning Whitney is also of the “meh” kind.

From AVClub’s Fall Season preview:

To put it bluntly, Whitney’s pilot is clumsy. Sure, the show wants to be edgy and different, but a huge chunk of the first episode involves Cummings in a sexy nurse’s uniform—a desperate appeal to the lowest common denominator that sitcoms don’t usually resort to until a little further down the line. As a character, Whitney says a lot of unrelated witty things, but Cummings the real-life showrunner hasn’t figured out what she wants the character to say in a broader sense.

Based on that, it would be surprising if Whitney survived its first season, but then again, and as Kroeger points out in his post, Two and Half Men is wildly successful, so predicting these things is not an exact science.

Nevertheless, as indicated, the early Twitter reaction to Whitney, powered via the #RejectedWhitneyPromo hashtag, and to the promotional content has not been pleasant, but this first one, well, it just makes me laugh:

If you don’t feel like reading all of that, just watch this mash-up promotional video for the upcoming show:

Now, I’m not entirely sure why Whitney is the only new fall show to be taking a beating like this. I mean, H8R sounds like absolute trash, but yet, it doesn’t have much of a Twitter presence, at least in regards to the venom Whitney is receiving.

Based on this, do you think Whitney has a fighting chance to make it to a second season or did NBC’s attempt at viral promotion blow the whole thing up before it even aired? I will say, however, based on the all the negative reaction, it’s almost impossible to not watch at least one segment of Whitney when it airs. From that perspective, maybe NBC didn’t fail after all.

Last night, ABC aired her two-hour interview of Jaycee Dugard, the now 31-year-old woman who was kidnapped when she was just 11-years-old. She was taken near her home in South Lake Tahoe, California in 1991 and held captive by convicted rapist Phillip Garrido and his complicit wife Nancy.

Jaycee was discovered in 2009 after Garrido suspiciously emerged with Jaycee and the two girls that he had fathered with her over the course of her abduction. Authorities became suspicious when the two girls referred to him as “daddy” at the parole hearing, as they were under the impression that he had no children.

After hours of questioning with Jaycee Dugard, who was identified as “Alyssa” by Garrido, the truth came out and Garrido and his wife were arrested. Convicted of kidnapping, false imprisonment and rape, Garrido was sentenced to 431 years in prison and his wife 36 years to life.

The whole ordeal enthralled the nation, and last night Diane Sawyer sat down for the much anticipated special with Dugard.

She announced on Friday in her first tweet that she would be live-tweeting the special –

She then kicked off the live-tweeting of the interview, which was taped earlier this weekend, with this tweet –

Here are some of the 40 or so tweets from Sawyer during the airing of the interview –

Sawyer mostly sent out original tweets, but she also interacted with other Twitter users, answering their tweets throughout the interview. Due to her live-tweeting of the special, Sawyer has grabbed up over 11,000 followers in a matter of days.

The interview relied heavily on information that’s a part of Jaycee Dugard’s new memoir “A Stolen Life.” The book doesn’t hit shelves until Tuesday but has shot up to #1 on Amazon thanks to the Diane Sawyer special last night.

Here’s a clip of the interview –

TMZ has a statement from ABC saying, “Guided by extensive research into what today’s daytime viewers want and the changing viewing patterns of the audience, ABC is evolving the face of daytime television with the launch of two new shows.” These will reportedly be health and food-based.

About a month ago at SXSW, we attended a session in which Manny Anekal, Zynga’s Director of Brand Advertising talked about storytelling through advertising, and specifically, targeting women/stay-at-home moms.

Pardon any stereotypes, but I’m fairly confident this is a significant part of the target market in the soap opera space.

Anyhow, according to Anekal, 1 in 5 Americans play Zynga games like Farmville, Cityville, etc. Cityville, he said, has almost a hundred million users. Last year, the average user played 68 minutes per day, and though is based on browser time,  even if you cut that number in half,  it’s an “enormous amount,” even compared to broadcast television.

“More women are playing Farmville than watching soap operas,” he said.

Now, obviously many of Zynga’s players are playing through Facebook, and add to that all of the other Facebook time (status updates, photos, etc. [now movies]), and perhaps that simply leaves less time for soap opears – especially ones that have been around for nearly 50 seasons.

The 40 year old mom spends the most amount of time playing these games, and also spends the biggest amount of money, said Anekal. “She is the new hardcore gamer.”

Fans of the two soap operas in question can take some comfort in the fact that episodes and clips are available on Hulu.

Intrigued? 

"Movie fans and film buffs will have unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to the 83rd Academy Awards from start to finish, beginning with the glamorous red carpet,  into the Kodak Theatre, backstage, and culminating  at the Academy’s official post-ceremony celebration, the Governors Ball," she says. 

"The site will provide a level of access into an awards show never before experienced by an online audience and is designed to be perfect companion to the Oscar telecast," the rep adds. "On Oscar Sunday, Oscar.com will offer unparalleled access to a multitude of cameras, providing online users with the ultimate insider’s view of Hollywood’s biggest night."

There will be special camera utilized specifically to provide live, behind-the-scenes footage via a "Thank You Cam". This will offer Oscar winners an extended opportunity to thank everyone they want, etc. in case they get cut off by the "wrap it up" music. 

There will also be a backstage cam aimed at capturing sound bites, backstage happenings, short interviews, and more behind-the-scenes footage. Finally, there will be Control Room and Press Room cameras. 

"Additionally, Oscar.com will offer a special ‘All Access’ premium feature that makes Hollywood’s biggest event even more accessible to movie lovers, allowing them to follow their favorite stars from the minute they set foot on the red carpet to the exclusive moments backstage and beyond," the rep says. 

Users will have to pay $4.99 to get access to live video footage of the evening’s events from over 20 cameras and "direct their own experience on the red carpet and inside the ceremony". This will utilize "360 cam" technology to control multiple cameras using a computer mouse. 

"All-Access" coverage will continue following the show, with special admission into the Governors Ball.

The Academy Awards are on February 27. The Red Carpet coverage begins at 6:30pm Eastern with the show beginning at 8:00pm Eastern on ABC. 

Under terms of the agreement, Netflix will not be allowed to stream current shows earlier than 15 days after the initial broadcast.

“TV content streamed from Netflix has proven to be immensely popular with our members," said Ted Sarandos, the company’s chief content officer.  

"Adding to our existing Disney-ABC lineup with great network and cable shows, and opening up ABC Family for the first time, are important steps in creating a wide and diverse selection of content Netflix members of all ages can watch."

Netflix members will be able to stream:

*Prior season episodes of current ABC series "Grey’s Anatomy,"  "Desperate Housewives" and, for the first time on Netflix, "Brothers & Sisters."

*Every episode of  ABC’s  "Lost" and "Ugly Betty.”

*Each season of several series from ABC Studios, including "Scrubs" and "Reaper," which are both new additions to Netflix.

Does it make any sense that networks are blocking content from Google TV? Tell us your thoughts.

It looks like Google has a long negotiating road ahead of them. According to TheNextWeb, “Google was said to be in negotiations with at least three television networks to unblock the content but that news surfaced towards the end of October and we’re now approaching the middle of November and it looks as if things have regressed rather than move forward.”

Why does blocking content to viewers ever seem like a good idea? Well it seems that networks don’t want television and online content to cross paths, as online content pulls in far less ad revenue compared to on-air commercials. Networks want you to watch their actual broadcasts.

When do you think Google will reach agreements with the networks? Let us know.

First of all, Google TV is simply providing a web browser for users to access web content on their TVs. With regard to the content, it’s no different than if you were to hook up your computer to your TV and go to these stations’ sites. 

How is making it harder for customers to access your content a good business model? Somebody please tell me. 

Second, the networks are just going to drive Google TV users (and possibly others simply out of spite) to access their content from some other site that is streaming it without permission or to download pirated copies of shows. 

What’s Google think about it? 

"Google TV enables access to all the Web content you already get today on your phone and PC, but it is ultimately the content owners’ choice to restrict their fans from accessing their content on the platform," a Google spokeswoman said in a statement. as quoted by the Wall Street Journal. 

Here’s another interesting sample from that WSJ article:

So just blocking the content from the real source must be the solution right? 

Will the networks start blocking Chrome users too? Really, they already are to some extent, as Google TV  uses Chrome for its web browser (albeit a limited version). Maybe they’ll block Firefox users. What about IE? Microsoft also has Bing, which could drive people right to the network sites too…even on a TV!

Seriously, why have content on the sites at all? 

Who wins as a result of the networks doing this?

Of course Google doesn’t win (which I’m guessing is the point), because they have a new product that is potentially game-changing and now they’re trying to sell it, but users can’t access the shows they want directly from these networks on the web, and that’s not going to help sales. I don’t see how the networks win, because they’re alienating viewers and driving them to alternative sources or alternative programming altogether. Obviously the consumers don’t win, because they’re simply inconvenienced into having to find said alternatives, after paying the money for Google TV, expecting the entire web at their finger tips, as advertised. 

More Views for Online Video Providers

Online video content providers could actually gain some viewers from this. If the major networks don’t want the viewers, there are a lot of people craving audiences out there, that will happily take them. A lot of them still have DVRs, so they can still record shows from the networks and watch them whenever they want, while fast forwarding through the ads (which they wouldn’t be able to do watching the shows online). 

Instead of blocking access, perhaps the networks should be more worried about providing better content to compete with the rest of the web. They are already in the best position to do so, financially, and from a brand perspective.