Disney will try using a single interactive ad during each break when it begins showing ABC TV shows online, on ABC.com, Reuters writes; 10 major advertisers have delivered new interactive online commercials as part of Disney's two-month test, starting May 1, that offers the shows online, free. For the test, Disney is charging advertisers only for the cost of setting up the online player, according to Alan Ives, vice president of interactive sales for ABC.
Streaming video of "Desperate Housewives," "Alias," "Commander in Chief" and "Lost" will go online about 12 hours after each episode airs on the East Coast. Advertisers, including AT&T, Cingular, Toyota, Ford, Procter & Gamble, Unilever, General Electric's Universal Pictures and Walt Disney Pictures, have already submitted their ads.
Each online episode will start with a 10-second sponsorship message and feature one commercial from that sponsor per commercial break; only three of the five commercial breaks built into episodes for TV will be used online. Viewers can choose to skip through the ads or click out of them before returning to the show.
