04th Feb 2006
CBS Ondemand - Three Strikes
So CBS has decided to do downloadable shows …. Let’s see if they understand this brave new world. For the most part, Apple’s got it down. So what about CBS?
The Ondemand page gives an overview of the service. Let’s see what we can do with it:
- You can download a show at midnight after it airs
- The files are about 600mb for ~45-50 minutes, so the quality is likely to be decent
… and.. that’s about it!
There are a number of things about their plan that indicate they haven’t done their homework:
- Windows only - Windows Media with DRM. No Mac or Linux. Strike One!
- Can’t play on portable media devices, such as the Video iPod. Strike Two!
- It’s a rental?! The show expires after 24 hours?! Are they not looking at the iTunes video store? Strike Three!
It’s astounding, right? :-) Never mind that all they have is “Survivor”. It’s a bit like they’re dipping a hangnail in the water. Hopefully they’ll get it right in their next iteration. In the meantime, they’re providing a great example of what not to do in the downloadable content space.
