Online Initiative Takes Soap Opera Cross Platform

[MarkH]

I can't understand half the words in this article, but it seems to be important somehow :-). Involves Agnes Nixon, LOL.

[Ann_SS]

Does anyone understand what the heck this article is talking about? What is this cross platform consisted of exactly? If you know, please share. Thanks.

[MarkH]

Here is what I think they're saying: If you are a broadcaster in, say, Belize....and you want to show AMC...they will now also give you an embedded AMC streaming player that you can put on your website and add advertisers to.

Thus, as a Belize broadcaster, when you're now thinking about buying AMC...you can not only earn broadcast dollars, but you can earn online dollars too...without needing to handle the technical nitty-gritty yourself.

That's what I THINK they're saying.

For me, there is a technical question (will they do IP filtering to make sure only viewers from the purchasing country can watch the stream?).

There is also a practical question. Does this mean that AMC and OLTL will soon start streaming legally in the US. It would be cool.

Then, the SMART net-caster (e.g. Soapnet??) would acquire access to all eight streams, and become a soap portal where anyone can go to watch their soap.

I'm feeling the future coming...I'm hopeful.

But all this depends on whether I am correctly understanding the article.

I hope the industry-savvy types here will translate??

[Ann_SS]

Thanks for the clarification, Mark.

[EricMontreal22]

I think this is AMAZING and exciting news and should be even bumped to news on here--or have the subject line at least retitled with Agnes Nixon and AMC so that more people read it--it's VERY important to the future of the show I thinka nd exciting Agnes is involved.

[EricMontreal22]

And key emphasis for me with DVD sales! AGnes seems to realize that her soap in the current market is on unstable ground--and wants to help remedy that.

[Jonathan]

This is an innovative way to see to it that soaps get a broader audience. I think Agnes knows that TV is changing. Basically, TV is dying as more people look to the web for their entertainment. This can't be fought, so as a smart business woman, Agnes is making her soaps available on the web.

This seems to only affect international markets and the article really isn't clear as to how Agnes is involved. Does she own the international rights to her shows? How does ABC fit in?

ETA: Fremantle is not a bad company to hook up with. It's the production company of American Idol.

It doesn't look like AgnesNixon.com is up and working yet.

[EricMontreal22]

I get the feeling that she realizes that B&B and some other soaps make big profits from Itnernational sales--and AMC (well the ABC soaps in general) for some reason has never really been aggresively sold overseas--I get the feeling this is part of her idea to change that? It certainly would help the shows financially. as a fan I'm more excited about thes epossible DVDs....

[Jonathan]

I still want to know how Agnes is able to accomplish this given the fact that she no longer owns AMC or OLTL.

[Adam]

Yeah, me too.... I don't fully understand what is going to happen, but I do applaud her for thinking outside the box trying to save her babies.... Its amazing how much of an innovator this woman is 40 years after she put her stamp on the genre for ever. Agnes is now what? 81, 82?

I bet it scares her to realize she could outlive these things, I bet she never ever would have thought that.

I like the DVD sales part.... and I think the archives should be opened up and transfered to digital so they can stream past episodes online too. Like I said in another thread, I would pay to be able to watch the old days....

[Y&RWorldTurner]

More power to Agnes if these ventures are successful!

[MarkH]

Could it be remotely possible that she never sold the international rights? I doubt that, but...

[Y&RWorldTurner]

She could have had that stipulated in her contract.

The ABC soaps have never had the worldwide appeal that say B&B and Santa Barbara have, so I don't think they'd ever bring in the same amount of worldwide revenue. But it's a worth a try selling them to more international markets, I guess.

[MarkH]

Of course, it is proposterous that Agnes, per se, is behind this.

Would she have offspring who are being the visionaries here?

[Sylph]

Her daughter used to write for AMC in the 70s, if I recall correctly. She now lives in Seattle and is not doing anything involving soaps.