Tue 22 Jul 2008
Magid Media Labs, working for CBS Interactive, released a study that shows people who watch TV shows online are also watching them on broadcast networks. What, the online component won’t cannibalize the television audience? Well, who’dathunk that? Oh yeah, everyone! Not only does the internet not take away viewers from broadcast TV but it also adds viewers to shows they might never have caught before. By giving the viewing control back to the audience 35% surveyed said they used ‘the internet as a means of checking out shows that they have not seen before and are therefore likely to view them on TV as a result of the added exposure.”
By making content more accessible it increases awareness, and if the show is any good, interest and ratings. I’ve never seen an episode of ABC’s ‘Pushing Daisies’ on my TV. Honestly I don’t even know what day of the week it was on (Wednesday maybe?) but I’ve seen every episode of the show. I wouldn’t miss it. Very rarely do you find me, and according to ratings most of the population over the summer, sitting inside watching TV in the evening. Instead we’ll watch the shows when we find the time. I’ll watch commercials online no problem, I’d have to watch three times as many if I watched these shows on air anyway. I might as well be able to pick and choose when I watch them.
So, keep it up. Keep putting new shows online. Worst case scenario is you end up getting fans like me who’ll be annoyed that their favorite shows go into hibernation all summer. I guess that’s why we have premium cable channels and shows like ‘Weeds’, to fill the gaps.