CBS to offer new content free online; affiliate owners arm themselves
Today CBS issued a press release saying that it would be airing several episodes of new and returning programs on the internet for free through their InnerTube video service. The online shows will be streamed and have commercials embedded that cannot be skipped (though considerably fewer commercials than when the shows air on television). ABC began offering more or less the same system last spring via their website. Both network’s only offer a handful of shows to be featured in their entirety. NBC and FOX have yet to put anything comparable on the table (though NBC did strike a deal with YouTube recently, which has yet to produce anything of note).
I really like this model, though I can imagine its driving the affiliates crazy. They need the networks to survive. The opposite used to be true, but now that there is iTunes (whose video impact has yet to be measured), and these new programs that give viewers what they want (whole shows) and keep the finance department happy (unskippable advertising) the local affiliate is becoming less and less important in that happy circle of broadcast television life.
The big problem, as I see it, is that the type of people who don’t have a problem watching video online (people like me), aren’t going to be using these services to get new content. If I want to see the new Lost, then by-God I’m going to see the new Lost when it airs (or DVR it, or anything that will let me watch it as soon as possible with the fewest distractions). The rest of the television populace doesn’t care. Casual viewers aren’t going to seek out a website so they can see a new show glorious, grainy, streamed video. So where’s the win/win? Click below and I’ll tell you…
Here’s what I want to see happen: Give us the pilots! Really, given the fact that it hasn’t even been a year since iTunes started offering television content (and subsequently throwing off the model for how content is marketed), the major networks have actually done a hell of a lot to cater to the next generation. Way more than the music industry had during its digital revolution (or really, since). NBC, as mentioned further down the blog, put out two of their new pilots on Netflix for early consumption, plus a lot of the cable companies (Sci-Fi, Adult Swim, Comedy Central, etc) let us get a first look (not to be confused with NBC’s “First Look” which shows you only ads) on some of their new programming. iTunes, surprisingly, even has a decent amount of free, whole, programs for download.
My question is why keep any of these shows a secret? A pilot, by nature, is designed to sell you on a television series. A series that many hope will air for years and year and years getting you to watch hundreds and hundreds of commercials during that time. In a way, these pilots should be hitting the web the second they’re completed. Get the word out, build the buzz, and let that translate to ratings when the SECOND episode airs in the fall.
Better yet, the networks wouldn’t be taking such huge risks. If the pilot is put on line at the beginning of the summer (or even in early August), and generates nothing but bile and hate, the network can cut its losses, dump the project and move forward with something else. Fewer risks, in a way, can result in more quality programs with fewer mid-season cancelations that throw the schedule out of whack. Emily’s Reason’s Why Not never should have seen the light of day (or at least the light of the television tube). Had the show been placed online months earlier, it would have been clear that it just wasn’t going to work.
I call on all the networks to SET THE PILOTS FREE! Give your websites some exclusive content that people would actually be interested in seeing. Leaking a pilot is like leaking an advertisement. Why wouldn’t you want people to have access to it?
