I came across this site today and must provide a slightly unusual free bit of advertising for the service. The site is Fancast, and while it apparently is some subsidiary of Comcast, it has worked out licensing agreements with a bunch of shows, essentially allowing one to watch entire seasons of current and old shows as if you are watching them from the actual network website. For example, if you're a fan of Arrested Development, it looks like the first season is online and parts of the second and third season. You can also watch what I have already disclosed are my favorite episodes of the Practice. You can't watch everything, but the site is a start. You can always get them from itunes or find them on other online sites.
What is interesting about this concept is that it is almost exactly what I had envisioned in an entry from September 2006. It's nice to see my ideas come to fruition in less than two years. Sort of makes me feel better about various pushes in parts of the fourth amendment.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
Fancast - probably the best current source for online television - and it's legal
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Hi 4L, thanks for the nice words about Fancast.com. As you discovered, we have lots of free programming on the site, movies and TV shows, absolutely free and, yes, absolutely legal:) And if you and your readers are interested in the law and crime, they include everything from great old fun classics like Perry Mason and Dragnet, to current hits like CSI and Prison Break. Your readers might like to see the complete list of shows available, it's at
http://www.fancast.com/full_episodes
Cheers,
Jim (for Fancast)
Thanks - as I mentioned, I think the site is good. The full episode list of Fancast's programming, as mentioned, can be found here.
The one thing I noticed in watching a couple of shows was that it's difficult to fast forward/rewind through the show without triggering a commercial everytime.
For example, a show on ABC's online digital network allows the user to scroll to the next segment if necessary, along with a timestamp in case you need to return to it. If you watch Segment 1, then the commercial, then Segment 2, you are able to return to a part in Segment 1 without watching the same commercial.
I have already explained why NBC's online system is inferior (and remains that way today), but even it has a way of advancing the show in a more easier method.
Not sure how all this goes on behind the scenes at Fancast (or the other network outlets for that matter), nor will I attempt to speculate on the patents or licenses involved, but overall, I do like the ease and transition generally for the shows on Fancast. My constructive criticism is aimed solely at the ease (or lack thereof) of moving back and forth within a single program. Generally, however, my concern with this aspect is pretty minimal and I only mention it here as an aside.
Otherwise, I think it's exactly the type of niche service that should succeed in the shallow digital waters of the online television medium.
Hey,
I know this is kinda late, but try hulu.com. They have a ton of shows plus movies, all for free. Don't know if its the same for fancast, but Hulu is easy to use.
I know I sound like a bot, but really, I found it through a case here at work and I'm addicted.
Post a Comment