NBC Further Opens the Network

I may be making more out of this than I should, but I think when NBC starts putting one of its most hyped, critically acclaimed shows up for online viewing only, that spells a major industry shift in thinking. The Black Donnellys went off air a few weeks ago, with no real promise of return. But the thing is, this Paul Haggis show is fucking good. So, with the dearth of good programming, I was a little miffed.

Apparently, that's not really a problem in this quickly changing television age. Three new episodes are already online, and they're releasing new episodes each Monday at 9pm ET. Obviously, this move was made out of desperation from lost viewership, but it's potentially something that could save a show that would have been, in any other era, considered walking dead.

Luckily, they've woken up to the fact that online viewership doesn't necessarily steal from television viewing, but sustains it, by allowing those who missed the regular showing to not lose the content, when before they may have given up altogether. For the Black Donnellys, it could just save the whole damn show.

Combine that with the 81% recall rate for ads viewed 2 or more times, and NBC may just have something cooking. (In case you haven't tried it out, everyone views the same ad 2 or more times, by the way)

Now, I'm still wishing failure on ClownCo, but it does mean more interesting times ahead. We can just hope that online only versions can actually make money. Then we'll be sittin' pretty.

Comments

[CK]

thanks for this; I wasn't aware and I don't think you're over-hyping it. What's a sea change is that the networks are now seeing online as a complement rather than a competitor.

Also of note is how they can niche this show's audience and how it can provide a new or new-and-improved economic model for them. I wonder if this was conceived by that woman they've got running things over their in their interactive division. Yes, let's credit a woman shall we?

Keep covering this, fascinating stuff.

[Lewis Green]

Paul,

Thank you for sharing this. Like CK, I did not know this. I am aware that other shows are available online, but those are non-canceled programs.

This could be great not only in terms of revenue but if studios use that increased revenue to produce high-quality shows, we all win.

My question: How is NBC marketing the online version of "The Black Donnellys"? I watch a fair amount of TV and read three papers a day, not to mention all the online sites I visit, and the message hasn't reached me.

[Paul McEnany]

Ck- I reserve the right to give no credit to their executives, and treat this as though they accidently stumbled into it. :)

I'm such a google homer, it's ridiculous.

Lewis- That what I was thinking, too! I never saw that they were playing it anywhere. I guess they planned to rely soly on word-of-mouth, which I guess makes sense. It would make more sense if they made it embeddable so I could post a clip of the show. I guess we can reserve that for clownco...