ESPN, ABC, Cox to Test VOD with No Ad Skipping

College Football, ABC Series to Be Included in Trial

By Mike Reynolds -- Multichannel News, 5/8/2007 1:48:00 PM

ESPN and the ABC Television Group will supply college-football contests and a quartet of series to Cox Communications for an on-demand trial that will prevent the cable operator’s subscribers from fast-forwarding over ads.

Scheduled to begin this fall on the MSO’s system in Orange County, Calif., the trial will give Cox digital-cable customers there access to ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, Lost, Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty the day after their broadcast premieres on the alphabet network.

Similarly, the ESPN on ABC football games -- the contests will likely be drawn from the network’s Saturday-afternoon or Saturday-night marquee matches, but they had yet to be specified at press time -- would become available on the Free Zone section of Cox's on-demand service that day after they debuted on ABC.

Either way, Cox will disable the fast-forward option on the service, and the test is expected to roll into additional markets.

Moreover, ABC.com’s broadband media player will be syndicated to Cox.net, providing users in Orange County with the ability to view the aforementioned fare online.

This marks the first time a cable operator will be able to showcase such product on its portal.

What the ad base on these platforms will look like was unclear at press time. A spokesman for the Disney ABC Television Group said the parties were still determining how the advertising would play out on-demand, relative to whether the episodes or games would carry a full commercial load, if the advertisers would be the same that bought time in the linear telecast, or if national or local sponsors on the telecasts would have first dibs on securing placement in the on-demand arena.

Cox will have at least one spot to promote some of its services and products, according to the Disney ABC spokeswoman.

The two companies said they would work together to test dynamic ad insertion on Cox's on-demand platform when such technology becomes operational.

“We’ve always placed a high priority on using the most popular content on television to create more value in our on-demand platform for customers and advertisers,” Cox Communications president Pat Esser said in a prepared statement. “We are excited about collaborating with Disney and using their great ABC and ESPN content to provide our customers with ‘anywhere, anytime’ access to content they value.”

“This project is another example of how our digital strategy integrates into our overall business strategy,” said Anne Sweeney, co-chair, Disney Media Networks, and president, Disney-ABC Television Group in a prepared statement. “It provides consumers with more access to our hit programming while showcasing our continued dedication to working with our distribution and advertising partners to develop and grow viable multiplatform business opportunities that better meet the evolving needs of our industry.”

Added George Bodenheimer, co-chair, Disney Media Networks, and president, ESPN and ABC Sports: “Cox has been a longtime valued affiliate and we are excited to be working with them in this truly unique way. We believe that the knowledge gained by experimenting together will not only benefit our two companies, but the entire industry, as programmers and operators look for new, innovative ways to work together.”

The Wall Street Journal first reported on the agreement in its May 8 edition.