The Wall Street Journal reports that the free ABC Player app for the iPad has been downloaded 205,000 times and used to watch 650,000 television episodes in the 10 days since the iPad’s release. According to ABC this has in turn generated “several million” ad impressions, and Disney-ABC television President Anne Sweeney indicates the network is pleased with the initial results.
The ABC Player application allows iPad users to watch free, ad-supported television content on the iPad with five 30-second ads presented within each hour of programming in a manner similar to broadcast television. A direct link is also provided for each episode to allow iPad users to purchase the ad-free version from the iTunes Store.
This coming fall ABC expects to begin providing more interactive advertising similar to that already found on its web player and eventually expects to allow affiliates the ability to sell specific advertising that would only be seen by users in their specific local markets. The ABC Player app is available from the App Store as a free download.
