ABC Commercial, has launched a ABC Shop Downloads service. Video content that was previously only available on DVD and soon music and audio book content can now be previewed, bought and downloaded directly from ABC Shop Online.
Amongst the 250 hours of content offered in the initial catalogue are comedy hits such as Aunty Jack and The Chaser’s War on Everything, factual programming such as Four Corners and Enough Rope, children’s programming that includes Bananas in Pyjamas and The Fairies and a feast of cookery titles from The Cook & the Chef to Surfing the Menu. Single episodes will be available to rent from $2.95. Rented programming can be viewed an unlimited number of times for 7 days.
In the coming months, the player will be enhanced to offer new services such as the ability to rate online clips, send clips to a friend, comment, bundling of episodes in a series and search within the player itself.
The Downloads service is based on a media player the ABC developed in conjunction with local technology company Hyro in just eight months and is based on Microsoft’s Silverlight technology and the Kontiki peer-to-peer distribution system.
See: http://shop.abc.net.au/downloads