Fox TV shows coming to iTunes... for free

In an attempt to capitalise on the growing population of people more interested in watching TV shows on their computers or portable media devices than on their TVs, a number of top US studios are offering season premieres for free download

Fox Studios will be offering seven premiere TV shows for free download via Apple's iTunes service.

The shows include: Prison Break, Bones and American Dad, and under the deal with Apple, will be free for two weeks after premiering in the US.

Disney announced that ABC shows will be available for download via AOL, and NBC Universal will be creating their own service called "NBC direct" where TV series such as Heroes and Jay Leno will be free to download from the service for a week after they are aired.

Until three weeks ago, NBC Universal had a similar arrangement with iTunes, where Heroes was a success. CBS's series Jericho was also very popular through Apple's service.

These services, so far, appear to be successful. Earlier in the month over 100 million TV shows had been sold through iTunes.