Entertainment

ABC latest to shrink free shows on Web

It’s keeping them off the Web.

ABC is the latest network to say it’s going to stop posting its new shows on the Web until at least after they air on TV.

Fox was the first to say last month that the practice of putting fresh episodes of its series on the Web — for free or little cost — was pretty much over.

Both Fox and ABC now say they’ll wait eight days before allowing online video sites like Hulu to post new shows.

The networks, like cable TV, are trying to stop people from “cutting the cord” — meaning dropping expensive cable TV — because so much new TV is available for free on home computers.

The crunch is not expected to be felt until next month, when the new TV season starts and fans will not be able to see the new series.

“We’ll basically push the window back or make access to the programming more difficult or later, except if customers are authenticated as a [cable] subscriber,” Bob Iger, the head of ABC’s parent company, Disney, told stock analysts yesterday.