AOL, Warner Bros. paw through TV landfill looking for recyclables

By JOHN MURRELL

So this is it -- the growth of broadband, the powerful PCs, the convergence of media, all these pivotal shifts in human communication, will finally allow us to ... watch old TV reruns on demand. Warner Bros., sitting on a heap of TV archives as big as the guano pile in a bat cave, will team up with AOL to create In2TV, a free broadband network that will show such classics as "Welcome Back Kotter," "Sisters" and "Growing Pains." The companies, both part of Time Warner, will share revenue from banner ads and four 15-second commercials per 30-minute episode.

In2TV will launch in January with interactive games and six channels : LOL, the laugh-out-loud comedy channel; Dramarama; Heroes and Horrors; Rush, with "Kung Fu" and other action programming; and Vintage, which will feature shows like "F Troop" and "Maverick." The New York Times notes: "There is a catch. To use the technology, viewers will have to agree to participate in a special file-sharing network . This approach helps AOL reduce the cost of distributing high quality video files by passing portions of the video files from one user's computer to another. AOL says that since it will control the network, it can protect users from the sorts of viruses and spyware that infect other peer-to-peer systems."

As the Red Herring says: "The move to leverage Time Warner's massive archive of entertainment content on behalf of AOL could make the online pioneer a major player in the emerging world of on-demand TV. Time Warner also owns Turner Broadcasting, Time Warner Cable, New Line Cinema, and Home Box Office. It could be just a matter of time before Time Warner adds more current shows and concerts to its AOL fare."

Inevitable, I suppose, but a little sad. Once upon a time, the sour memories of bad TV shows were allowed to fade, and time would heal the wounded psyches of the exposed. Now, members of future generations will be confronted with the choice of whether to invest a half-hour of their precious lives in an episode of "Chico and the Man." Now, nothing disappears, everything remains, and as Theodore Sturgeon reminds us, "Ninety percent of everything is crud."