ABC changes rules for watching shows online; bad news for ‘Castle,’ ‘Once Upon a Time’ fans?

In an age where it has become more and more imperative to try and find alternate ways to watch TV, ABC has made a very bizarre decision: Making it more difficult for viewers to catch their shows for free online, unless you are either a subscriber to a popular cable company, or are the extremely patient type.

The network announced that if you have AT&T U-Verse, Cablevision Optimum, Charter, XFinity, Cox Communications, Google Fiber, Midcontinent, or Ferizon FiOS, you can continue to watch new episodes through their WATCHABC portal or their app of the same name the day after a new episode of your favorite show airs. All you have to do is enter a little bit of information involving your account. You can also do so if you are a subscriber to Hulu Plus or Amazon Instant, or if you have some sort of On-Demand TV service that allows you to go back and watch TV on there.

However, henceforth any new program that airs on the network will not be made available nationally through ABC channels, unless you fit some of the qualifications above, until eight days after the show airs. We really cannot sit here and say that this is revolutionary, since Fox utilizes a similar model and other networks do as well. However, it is still an incredible lame shift for fans of “Castle,” “Once Upon a Time,” “Revenge,” or some of the other shows where if you are not up to date, you risk getting spoiled by anyone and everyone.

From an outsider point of view, we suspect that this move was made out of a desire for the network to get more money out of its shows, or to encourage more live viewing. The unfortunate thing to us here is that we don’t quite know if that is going to work, and at least they were making some money in having their shows online the next day with commercials attached.

What is your response to this change, and does it impact you? Let us know below.