Lost, Desperate Housewives and Grey's Anatomy will become available at ctv.ca.
What's ironic about this from the prospective of the American networks is they were arguing the opposite position in their negotiations with the US writers guild during the strike. During those negotiation the writers' position was they wanted a piece of the internet revenue cake. The networks proclaimed there was no evidence that the internet was profitable for TV shows. Then while negotiating terms with Canadian networks looking to pick up a show, US networks kept saying they wanted more money if they were going to post the show online.
In a move that may pave the way for most of the highest-rated shows on television to make their way online in Canada, CTV Inc. struck a deal with ABC Inc. to stream three of that network's most-watched series online, supported by advertising.
Episodes of Lost, Desperate House wives and Grey's Anatomy will be available online for 28 days after their original broadcast for the remainder of the season, the networks said.
While the deal is not the first to bring U.S. shows to Canada, it is one of only a few to include dramas or comedies that are in the top-20 of the national TV ratings. Canadian broadcasters have put many of their own domestic shows online, along with programs from U.S. cable channels and reality shows, but most of the best-known prime-time hits remain absent.
The biggest hurdle so far has been the inability of Canadian and U.S. networks to agree on what the digital rights are worth and to find advertising support. Since Canadian networks buy the broadcast rights to such programs here, the U.S. networks aren't allowed to stream the same shows on the Internet north of the border.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servl...25.wr-online26
I know most people just download the torrent of the show if they'd like to watch it at a computer, but this is much less of a hassle.