ABC will stream full episodes of its popular TV shows in HD, starting this summer, on the Internet, according to Multichannel News. This is claimed to be a first in the industry.

The Disney-owned company plans to start streaming HD at 1280 x 720 resolution during a test in July. A limited number of shows will be available, including Lost, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, and Ugly Betty.

"This is all about innovating and creating 'what's next' to give consumers the best experience as they watch our content, regardless of viewing platform," Disney-ABC Television Group executive vice president of digital media Albert Cheng said in a prepared statement.

News and local content will also be made available in HD. The local content will be "geo-targeted" meaning that the player can identify the viewer's location [the IP address] and provide corresponding content and ads.

ABC has been particularly agressive in this area. Its current player is very, very good, if not currently HD. It's significant that the announcement comes on the heels of an admission by CBS on Monday that their TV portal has not been doing well. It may be a coincidence, thanks to Steve Jobs being on the board of directors of Disney, but ABC.com seems to be demonstrating a better coherence of vision and technial excellence with its streaming TV than the competition lately.

The Apple TV is also capable of 1280 x 720 resolution. It may be only matter of time now before we'll see the full capability of the Apple TV exploited.