Although Walt Disney's revenues, for the first quarter ending December, were superior to what Wall Street had expected, showing a net profit of $734m from $686m in the same period last year, studio profits fell 60% because of lower home video sales and box office results.

Disney officials came out with a new strategy in order to boost profits and advertising revenues and increase the number of viewers of some famous TV series you surely have heard of. As a result, the series "Desperate Housewives", "Lost", "Commander In Chief" and "Alias" - will be available for free on ABC's website ABC.com starting May 1st.

It is not the first time Disney tries "to sell" its TV shows to all kinds of viewers, as iPod owners can already download any episode of their favorite series at a price of $1.99.

Even if anyone can download the entire series for free, the viewer will not be able to skip commercials and there will be many of them. It seems that more than ten companies - as AT&T, Ford, Procter & Gamble or Universal Pictures - have agreed to advertise during Disney's trials.

"It's really an opportunity for us to learn about a different model," said Disney-ABC TV group president Anne Sweeney. "It's more importantly recognizing that none of us can live in a world of just one business model," she added.

Again, the American market will be the single one to benefit from Disney's offer, as only the Internet users with US Internet addresses and broadband connections will have access to the online series in order to protect broadcasting rights.


It is said that Disney will also launch a high-speed soap-opera Internet channel called Soapnetic available only for Verizon customers starting 17 April.

It seems that "Disney's tactic" for this year has already proved to be successful, as Pixar takeover, the first step, will increase sales profits and box office results.