http://www.frontline.org
Background
Frontline is an in depth news program that has been on the air for almost 25 years. Each year Frontline produces around 10-15 new programs. Each program is 60 to 90 minutes and focuses on a specific topic in current affairs. Recent shows looked at stories such as the first year of the war in Iraq, the Meth crisis in America, and the longterm fallout from the Tiananmen Square Protests in China. Beginning in 2002 Frontline began posting the full video of all their new television programs on their website and also posted the full videos for a number of older programs as well. A list of all their programs found online can be found here.
Each new program is released to the internet the same time that it is first aired on television.
Online Content
Each program has it's own website, and in addition to the ability to view the full show, there are a number of additional video and non-video materials which look at issues raised by the show in greater depth. For example, there are non-video items such as maps, timelines, and full transcripts of interviews. There is also occasionally additional video content (such as more in-depth interviews, and "behind the scenes" video).
Bridging the Television Experience to the Online Experience
During the television program small text messages often appear during interviews or other moments that suggest visiting the website for more supporting materials. The problem with these messages is that the link is simply to pbs.org, which is not very targeted, and also of course you cannot click on the link on your TV (probably why the address is so simple).
In addition the website is always mentioned at the end of a program. Again though, the address given is pbs.org. I think this may be because they want to figure out where people who watch their programs online live. When you go to pbs.org and search for Frontline, you first enter the PBS station nearest you. From their perspective it makes sense to do this, but for the viewer it is a frustratingly roundabout way to get to the actual site.
Watching Online
The main issue with watching the video online is that it is broken up into segments (about 8-13 minutes in length for a 60-90 minute program, meaning between 4-8 segments) which you cannot stream together; when one segment ends you must click a button to watch the next segment.
Breaking up the program into segments like this is useful in giving the viewer an overall picture of the structure of the program, and allowing you to watch only a specific piece. However, if you want to watch the whole program at once, you cannot sit back as you would at your TV and just watch.
Now granted the video size is small (on my screen maybe 1.5 x 2 inches), but the need to click a next button is still very disruptive.\\
The format of the newer programs is both quicktime and windows media. As of yet I don't believe that you can download programs from itunes. There is a link in the itunes store to a podcast for one the programs, but that is it. So this experience is tied to the computer for most people.
