ABC and CBS Bring Streaming TV Shows to iPad

uno de los mejores magazines de apple4/2/10 7:42 AMJ.R. BookwalterNews ABC ipad iPad Applications streaming videoComments

If you’re a television nut who also happens to have an iPad fetish, you’ll be happy to know that two of the four major TV networks are now available on your device.

According to AppleInsider, both CBS and Walt Disney’s ABC are betting big on Apple’s new iPad.The Wall Street Journal is reporting that both networks will be offering streaming episodes of TV shows -- CBS through its website, and ABC through a free, iPad-only app that’s already available for download.

"Putting streaming video on the iPad would sidestep Apple's iTunes content store, where Apple has been trying to juice anemic sales of TV episodes in advance of the iPad launch," the report reads. "So far, several media companies have rejected Apple's push to lower the price for downloading shows from iTunes to 99 cents each, according to people familiar with the talks."

Only last week, MacRumors reported that CBS.com had been switching some of its content from Adobe Flash to iPad-friendly HTML5. Those alternate pages were discovered while visiting the site using the iPad SDK simulator. The revised site will be live in time for Saturday’s launch, although initial offerings are expected to be limited at first.

ABC has taken a more proactive approach, creating a free, dedicated iPad-only app that’s already available for download. It promises to let you watch full-length episodes of your favorite shows, including Lost, Grey’s Anatomy, Modern Family, Desperate Housewives and more.

The 1.5MB ABC Player app also features a full schedule for the network and the ability to pause an episode and come right back to the same place later on. The only downside is that it requires a Wi-Fi connection for now, but since there are no 3G iPads available at the moment, that shouldn’t be too much of a dealbreaker.