America Online Inc. flipped the switch on its In2TV video service, offering hundreds of vintage episodes from 31 Warner Bros. TV series free-of-charge.
The service -- which runs short ads before each show from advertisers such as Intel Corp., The Hershey Co., Kia Motors America and Kraft Foods Inc. -- was originally set to debut in January.
AOL -- which said it also plans to begin offering $1.99 paid downloads of current TV series this summer -- will hold a launch party Wednesday night at the Museum of TV and Radio in Beverly Hills, Calif. Welcome Back, Kotter star Gabe Kaplan, whose program is one of In2TV’s offerings, will MC the event.
Stars from In2TV series Growing Pains, Perfect Strangers, Kung Fu,Babylon5, V and The New Adventures of Batman will also attend.
AOL has programmed In2TV series on six channels: “LOL TV” (comedies like Kotter and Head of the Class); “Dramarama TV” (Falcon Crest, Spenser: For Hire, Eight Is Enough); “Toon Topia TV”; “Heroes and Horrors TV” (Lois & Clark, Wonder Woman, V); “What a Rush TV” (Kung Fu, La Femme Nikita, Dark Justice); and “Vintage TV” (Growing Pains, F-Troop, The F.B.I., Maverick, Alice).
