ABC and Cox Cable are trying an experiment in Orange County this fall. They are going to give subscribers of the service the ability to watch some of ABC’s big hit shows — Grey’s Anatomy, Lost, Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives — anytime that they wish. So far, so good.

And, furthermore, they are offering these shows for FREE. Uh-oh. That’s a bit of a red flag. Because we all know that there ain’t no such thing. If you’re not giving money, then you’re giving time.

In this case, FREE means that the on-demand shows have commercials. Which is fair: so did the original broadcasts. But what it also means is that Cox and ABC are disabling the fast-forward button so I can’t zip through the commercials. And that’s where I get off of the bus with this particular idea.

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Throughout the year, we are going to be subjected to various and sundry “YouTube killers”. One such animal is (was?) Bud.tv. Launched with the full faith and credit of the mighty Budweiser empire behind it, the site promised to be an edgy, Bud-oriented alternative to existing online video services.

Since then, numbers have declined from the reported 250,000+ viewers per month to approximately 150,000 viewers. These are not bad numbers, you might think, especially for a new venture. Today’s audience is fragmented enough that these numbers should not the be reason for the Bud.tv to commit the virtual version of hari kari (see: the short-lived Pirate TV or whatever it was called).
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As is my sometimes habit, I ventured out into the real world this week to take the pulse of real people who use real new media. Nobody was paid nor bribed in the course of these discussions and all opinions reflected here represent the opinions of my (anonymous as they shun fame and fortune) focus group, expanded this time to include a few voices from the legal profession.

So here is what they’re saying out there in reality. Remember, real people with real money to spend on goods and services:

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Yesterday, we posted our review of the Star Trek / DuroSport Video Download Service. As is usually the case with things involving the DuroSport Electronics Company, we thought that it was ill-conceived and kinda amateurish.

Today, the link to the service has been removed from the Star Trek website. While we don’t think that our review had anything specific to do with the removal — officially, that is — it seems like the people over at Star Trek came to their senses, and cut their losses pretty swiftly.

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Yesterday we told you about DuroSport’s new retail outlet in Second Life. It was everything we expected a DuroSport store to be — which was exactly the problem. DuroSport has become so predictable that even their failures no longer surprise us. But there is a new development that even we find quite surprising. DuroSport has just announced an exclusive partnership with the most highly respected content franchise in history: Star Trek.

Yes, you read that correctly. Star Trek. Starting today, Star Trek and DuroSport Electronics have partnered to release what they are calling “DeMastered” episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series. The episodes are being made available exclusively through DuroSport’s new video download service called — predictably — DuroView.

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It’s not easy being an industry leader these days. The moment you hit the top, every time your competition releases a new product, it’s going to “kill” you. The Zune was the iPod killer. Microsoft’s new and improved search was the Google killer. And NBC Universal/News Corp’s new service is, naturally, being touted as the YouTube killer.

All which makes for violent headlines, but the proof, as we all know, is in the audience. It’s not enough to release a new service into the wild and expect it to take the Internets by storm. YouTube didn’t become the go-to online video service simply because it was there. And that is the lesson big media needs to learn.

I think it’s important to review what makes YouTube, well, YouTube. It’s obviously not the only video sharing site out there. Grouper, Revver, and a host of other services allow users to easily upload video. If rumors are to be believed, Revver is the place to go if you’re trying to make a buck off your work. But the zeitgeist — that intangible thing — is with YouTube. Users cross the myriad cultural divides. My mother-in-law finds stuff on YouTube, because YouTube is pretty close to foolproof. It’s designed for the casual user.
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This is probably going to be the last time they allow me to write for Medialoper, but I can’t conceal the truth any longer: I can’t work the iTunes store. I’ve tried and I’ve tried and I’ve tried, but I just can’t get iTunes to work for me. It turns out that I’m a niche girl in a broadband world.

As online services strive ever-harder to be everything to everyone, I find myself retreating into my comfortable spaces. It’s not that I don’t enjoy finding new stuff — serendipity is still my favorite way to navigate the web — but when it comes to consuming media, I like to take a boutique approach to shopping.

I’m not alone in this. Chris Anderson, who will likely forever have to deal with issues surrounding his Long Tail and, well, I hear he’s addressing the crowd from Novelists’ Inc, and, oh, Chris, there is much I should warn you about), is talking again about the power of the niche. I cannot begin to tell you how much I believe that we are entering the Age of the Niche.
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As a public service, Medialoper offers the latest installment of I Hate The Cable Company, our monthly(ish) roundup of some recent stories where ordinary citizens have had issues with the service and/or pricing of their local cable company.

• In Worcester MA, a man was told by Comcast that they would have no problem hooking him up . . . as long as he paid them $14,995.35.

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Dear Major League Baseball,

As you know, I am a lifelong San Francisco Giant fan. Since the days of Mays, Marichal and McCovey. However, I now live in the Los Angeles area, so my access to their games is much more limited than it was when I lived in the Bay Area. Boo-hoo for me.

So a couple of years ago, missing you a lot, I came very close to getting your “Extra Innings” package, but in the end, I didn’t. You were very expensive, and I wasn’t quite there finanancially. I was stuck with whatever I could get from the great ESPN broadcasts and those brutally awful FOX broadcasts. But I missed my Giants broadcasts — Krukow and Kuiper, especially. Now I have the scratch, but I can’t, because you — Major League Baseball — have decided to limit the availability of your package to a single provider: DirectTV.

Why? I can only conclude it’s because you hate me, and don’t want me to watch my beloved Giants on a regular basis.

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We have noticed a lot of recent stories out there about how much people hate to deal with their cable companies. This is, of course, nothing new. But still, after 30 plus years, you’d think that the cable companies would have figured it out. Nope.

A decade ago, Congress even got involved, making it part of the promise of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 that the increased competition would mean lower cable prices.

How did that work out for you?

So, as a public service, we offer a new column: I Hate The Cable Company. It will be a monthly round-up of just some of stories discussing the crappy service and high prices that people enjoy from their local cable providers. Just to be fair, we will add satellite to the mix, as well.

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