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Forget the new Outkast album – the new must-download file this season is … Tuesday’s episode of The Young and the Restless?
Yes, soap fans use their computers like everyone else, decided Sony Pictures Digital Inc. So last year the company launched SoapCity Download, an Internet service that delivers commercial-free, near-DVD quality soap episodes to broadband computer users.
The service is primarily aimed at young professional women, who often miss their favorite soaps during office hours. It also provides a convenient and legal alternative to swapping episodes over file-sharing networks, the scourge of movie and television studios.
A SoapCity Download subscription costs $9.99 for unlimited access to the previous four weeks’ episodes. For the commitment-phobic, two alternate pricing plans are available: users may download individual episodes for $1.99 apiece or buy value packs of multiple episodes at a discounted price.
Currently three soaps are available: CBS’ The Young and the Restless and As the World Turns and NBC’s Days of Our Lives. It takes about forty-five minutes to download each episode over a broadband connection – dial-up users need not apply.
After storing the shows on their hard drives, viewers may watch at their convenience. But like Apple’s much-vaunted iTunes store, SoapCity Download has stringent copy protection: episodes expire a month after they are posted on the site. Then they can no longer be viewed.
SoapCity Download plans to expand its roster of shows, and at press time was negotiating to add Guiding Light, Another World and The Bold and the Beautiful to the lineup. The service also plans new features for user convenience, such as the ability to watch as they download. Eventually, it may offer prime-time serials such as Dawson’s Creek. Yet another reason to toss the remote and start clicking the mouse. - Robert Lo
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