Speaking of Lost, here's an interesting piece of news. According to a report on ArsTechnica today, ABC plans to offer free (ad-supported) downloads of popular TV shows in the coming months.

Since I don't have a cable connection or a TV here in my room, I tend to record most of what I want to watch during the week (which is actually very little) on the DVR at home, and watch it on the weekend instead. That's fine, except I don't have a way to transfer these to my computer if I want to. Buying low-quality, DRM'd episodes at two dollars a piece from the iTunes Music Store is simply out of the question. And the other option is...well, not so legal.

So this may end up becoming a nice alternative, but it's too early to say just yet. What kind of advertising is involved exactly? Are there any other restrictions? What's the picture quality like? Is the show available the same day as it airs on TV? The success of such a venture really depends on how it all comes together in the end. I'll be watching out for this.