(26 June 2008 6:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Online television content site Veoh has announced that full episodes from US broadcaster ABC and short-form online video content from ESPN.com are now accessible through it.

Delivered via ABC.com's broadband player, full episodes of popular ABC programmes including Lost, Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, Jimmy Kimmel Live and Ugly Betty are available for free to viewers at www.veoh.com.

Veoh will also offer select short-form programming from ABC via an embedded short-form player, which will launch on the site later this year. In addition, Veoh now features highlights from major sporting events through a multi-sport embedded ESPN video player as well as original ESPN programming including SportsCenter Right Now -- a twice-daily capsule of top sports stories, highlights and breaking news -- and clips from ESPN programmes such as Mike and Mike in the Morning, Pardon the Interruption and Around the Horn.

Viewers can access the Veoh ABC and ESPN channels through the channel tab located on Veoh’s homepage or through Veoh’s video search.

Disney and ESPN Media Networks senior VP digital video distribution Matt Murphy says, "We are excited to bring high quality content from ABC and ESPN to Veoh’s highly engaged users.

“This deal expands the distribution of our quality programming through our own broadband players, growing the reach of our advertisers while maintaining their direct association with our powerful network brands.”

Veoh Networks CEO Steve Mitgang says, “Veoh’s viewers actively watch a broad range of content across network TV shows, made-for-web productions and independently produced videos, so we are thrilled to expand our offerings with popular programming from ABC and ESPN.

" This relationship will not only allow Veoh to cultivate new, influential fans of ABC and ESPN shows among its core audience of 18-34 year old viewers, but also engage marketers across even more types and lengths of video content.”

Later this year ABC will roll out enhancements to the player including full-screen viewing; closed captioning; and enhanced navigation and powerful video search capabilities, among others. Featuring an interactive ad model designed for high ad retention, ABC.com’s full episode player continues to deliver a premium to advertisers, attracting a young, highly educated and loyal user base. Since launching in 2006, over 380 million episodes have been initiated through the ABC.com full episode player.

In 2007, fans viewed ESPN.com videos more than 1.2 billion times, a 54 per cent increase over 2006. So far in 2008, fans are viewing an average of 121 million videos per month, a 32 per cent increase as compared to the same period last year.