Fans of 24, Prison Break and other popular television programs will soon be able to download episodes for $1.99 US within a day of their network broadcast, Fox Entertainment Group says.
The company said it had struck an international deal with News Corp. to offer its shows and films such as X-Men: The Last Stand and The Omen on MySpace.com, a popular community website, and Direct2Drive.com, a video game site.
Beginning in October in the United States, people will be able to buy the TV shows and films for download on the internet, then view them on either a computer or digital video player, Fox said.
People will either be able to play them directly or transfer them to one or two devices running Microsoft’s Windows Media Player, although copyright protection software will prevent multiple copying.
It wasn’t immediately clear whether a similar service would be available in Canada and other countries.
Apple Computer Inc’s iTunes Music Store already sells shows such as 24, but the content can only be played on iPod devices. Hollywood studios have struck deals with websites such as Movielink, a joint venture formed by five studios, and CinemaNow, but widespread film downloading has yet to catch on.
Fox experimented earlier in the year with free episodes of 24 on MySpace. With the latest move, the company hopes to develop a wider online market for its videos by offering them on a variety of sites managed by News Corp., which owns Fox and Direct2Drive.com as well as MySpace.
“Our drive to deliver 20th Century Fox content via the most powerful online platforms is advanced substantially by this agreement,” Peter Levinsohn, the president of digital media at Fox, said in an interview with the Australian.
Fox plans to tailor its offerings of movies and shows to site users. Direct2Drive will have 24, Prison Break and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia within 24 hours of episodes airing on network TV.
Movies such as X-Men: The Last Stand, Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties, The Omen and Thank You for Smoking will be offered online the same day they are available on DVD, the company said.
Fox recently signed a major advertising deal with the search engine Google.
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