Medialoper

Chasing the long tail of new media

NBCU

NBC’s Insidious Plot

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Last week, NBC Universal announced that, as part of a cost-cutting measure, that they were going to totally abandon the 8:00pm hour to game shows and reality shows. No more sitcoms or dramas with their pesky and expensive money-wasting frills like “actors” and “scripts.”

In the age of TiVo, YouTube & iTunes it doesn’t really matter when or where a show airs as long as it does air. So the worry here is mostly if this means something like Nobody’s Watching will ever make it to the airwaves. Also, how much longer NBC will be considered a “major” network when the fracking CW ends up carrying more scripted shows just because NBC doesn’t think it can have a sitcom hit at 8:00pm? Bill Cosby must be spinning in his grave.

Anyways, I thought it would be ironic to get some comments from fans of NBC’s low-rated freshman drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip — which has spent a lot of time and energy railing against this exact type of situation — but I had a helluva time finding any. And when I did, I was very much surprised by their reaction to this news. They weren’t at all upset. As a matter of fact, they supported NBC’s move.

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What is a “Webisode” Anyways?

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With only a month left before the launch of Season Three of what is probably our consensus favorite show around here, Battlestar Galactica, Sci-Fi.com has launched a series of “webisodes” — internet-only episodes with brand-new content.

Obviously, Battlestar isn’t the first TV show to do this, but the webisodes were actually delayed for a month or so because of controversy over compensation. It’s the latest variation of the “new media meets old contracts” meta-issue we’ve seen played out over and over again.

In this case, the legal issue can be boiled down to this: what is a “webisode” anyways? Is it strictly promotional? Or is it brand-new content for a brand-new medium?

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Algunos Pensamientos al Azar Mientras Que Mira la Tarde Rebroadcast de Galavision del fósforo de la Copa del Mundo Entre Paraguay y Trinidad & Tobago

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Mi español de la High School secundaria aspira. No puedo reconocer una palabra que están diciendo, a excepción de “pelota del buena.” ¡Y, al parecer, tiene de convertido riguer para todos los anunciadores de Galavision para hacer el GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLL entero! cosa, no justo de Andres Cantor. ¿Y por qué no? ¿Es la mejor llamada de todos los deportes, así que quién no desearía hacerla? Sin embargo, el ayer por la noche allí era éste: ¡”GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLL! ¡GOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLL!! GOOOOOOOOOOL — offsides.” Ooops. ¡Sin embargo, otra palabra que reconozco!

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Upfronts: Will Studio 60 Be The Greatest Thing Ever?

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It’s a rhetorical question, I know, but has any TV program in the history of Television been so overly publicized six months prior to its debut than Studio 60? Yeah, I’m looking forward to it, too, but this Wall St Journal headline might be a bit too much:

Can ‘Studio 60’ Save NBC?

No! No single show can save any network!! Period!! Well, except for Veronica Mars, that might save the CW . . . OK, that was just plain wishful thinking, which is what this is.

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NBC Moves Into The On Demand World

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Following CBS’ lead, NBC is working out a deal with Comcast to make nearly a dozen of their of their shows available on demand.

NBC’s deal is more comprehensive than the CBS one because it features a wider variety of shows, and includes non-primetime shows like Passions and Late Night, as well as shows from NBCU’s cable properties, most notably Battlestar Galactica. Interestingly enough, customers would be charged US$0.99 for the prime-time shows, but the non-prime and cable shows would be free.

The perception, of course, is that the prime-time shows are worth more than the non prime-time shows, which is weird: it would seem that culty shows like Monk and Passions are worth way more to their cults, no matter where they are originally broadcast.

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What The Office Will Do on its Summer Vacation

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While other TV shows will be taking their summer vacations, much of the cast of The Office will  be participating in a series of webisodes that will be available from NBC.com this summer.  According to an NBCU press release, there will ten eps: a story arc centering on a missing $3000, and the attempt to locate it. 

And in keeping with this season’s emphasis on the secondary and tertiary characters, the webisodes won’t have most of the big names: Steve Carrell, John Krasinski, Jenna Fischer and B.J. Novak.  Those people will be getting to take actual full vacations.  Sounds more and more like a real office, doesn’t it?

Conspicious by his presence is Rainn Wilson, which causes us to make a prediction: Dwight done it.  No doubt to finance the purchase of a of a brand-new Prism DuroSport 6000.