sounds brilliant but I bet it'll be unavailable outside of the UK :rolleyes:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1191570/Channel-4-UK-broadcaster-offer-catalogue-online-free.html?ITO=1490Last updated at 8:38 PM on 08th June 2009
Comments (16) Add to My Stories Channel 4 will make more than 10,000 shows from its archive available free online next month.
If copied by other broadcasters, the move could kill off the lucrative box set market, where entire TV series are sold on DVD.
Channel 4's decision could also put pressure on the BBC, which offers programmes via its iPlayer service for only seven days after they air, to follow suit.
In demand: Episodes of Father Ted (above) and Shameless (below) will be available online for free from next month
The expansion of the 4oD --Channel 4 On Demand - service means that viewers will be able to watch classic programmes such as Father Ted and Shameless months or years after they were first aired.
However, Channel 4 News and some U.S. shows such as Friends may not be made available online because of legal issues.
Currently, most shows are available for just a month after they are broadcast on television.
But in future, viewers will be able to simply click and watch the majority of shows without even having to download them, and the programmes will be free.
Channel 4 even plans to put the 'most important storylines' of its long-running soap Brookside online.
Choice: Popular shows including Queer As Folk (above) and Teachers (below) will be among around 10,000 titles available on Channel 4's 4oD service
These include the infamous plot involving teenager Beth Jordache - played by Anna Friel - teaming up with her mother to murder her abusive father.
Miss Friel was also involved in a controversial gay affair storyline, which led to the first lesbian kiss being broadcast before the 9pm watershed.
The appetite for watching video content online has dramatically increased in the past few years.
One in every 35 UK internet views in February was of a video site, according to the internet traffic monitor Hitwise. This is up from one in 50 in 2008.
Earlier this year, the BBC, Channel 4 and ITV planned to create a joint site for catch-up TV in the UK, called Project Kangaroo.
However, the proposal was ruled out by the Competition Commission which called it ' anticompetitive'.
After this ruling, ITV had planned to put much of its archive - including hits such as Poirot and Inspector Morse --online.
But these plans have been shelved while ITV looks to find new ways of raising revenue from older shows.
Jon Gisby, director of future media and technology at Channel 4, said around 10,000 programme titles will be added to the service.
He told The Guardian: 'We were the first broadcaster to launch a comprehensive video-on-demand service in 2006, and since that time 4oD has become one of the UK's most popular VOD brands.
'We are extremely proud of the improved service and think the combination of fantastic content that's easy to find and view will prove compelling for all users.'
