Another Touchstone Television series, ABC’s Commander in Chief, was added Tuesday to Desperate Housewives, Lost and a pair of popular Disney Channel shows on Apple’s iTunes Music Store.
Commander, starring Geena Davis as the first female president of the United States, and now being produced in association with Steven Bochco Prods., will be priced at $1.99 per episode, like the other Disney iPod series. They include Disney Channel’s That’s So Raven and The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.
ABC’s cancelled Night Stalker will also remain an iPod option. Seven episodes are already available on iTunes, and three more that were in various stages of production when the network axed the show are considered likely to appear later. Additionally, all 10 episodes of Stalker have been sold to cable’s Sci Fi Channel to air next summer.
The Disney-Apple deal is subject to a 25% program repurposing cap agreement with affiliates. ABC has room to add more series later if it chooses, since it is currently under the cap. Stalker would remain regardless, because the agreement only applies to shows currently on the network, an ABC spokesman said.
By adding Commander to iTunes, ABC will give an added promotional boost to the Tuesday-night freshman series and keep fresh content flowing into the Apple deal.
Commander has improved the competitive 9 p.m. time period versus a year ago. New episodes will be available on iTunes the day after they are broadcast on the network, while all previously aired episodes can be obtained now.
