While the majority of the TV industry has been moving toward an online ad-supported model for their TV shows, Fox (NWS-A) has decided to add another aspect to the mix by offering their new fall TV shows on Apple (AAPL) iTunes for free, and some other primetime shows as well.
What this looks like to me is more of a branding initiative by Fox, rather than trying to generate revenue from eventual downloads (although that will happen).
Evidently Fox thinks offering them free and without being ad-supported may encourage people to watch them more on iTunes, and result in higher TV watching and some potential download sales also.
For Fox this makes sense as they have the youngest skewing audience of the networks, and so would benefit the most from iTunes' built-in audience segment.
News Corp. and Rupert Murdoch also have a history of being willing to forego profits in the short-term to build up its brand and business for the long term. This looks like what they're doing in this instance.
"Our goals are alike," Eddy Cue, Apple's vice president of iTunes, said of the Fox deal. "Fox is interested in selling shows and getting people to watch them on TV. We are helping promote both the buying of shows and watching of TV. If people watch a show on TV, they are more likely to buy a download if they miss an episode."
As far as premiere episodes of programs go, the network wil offer them on iTunes free for a 2-week period.
I find it interesting to see Fox combining a free model with a download model for pay. Other networks are definitely committing to the ad-supported model as their major online strategy.
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