New
Gossip Girl ratings: same as the old
Most media
experts expect that in the not-so-distant-future, the Internet will
become the primary source of video viewing, even for television shows.
In fact, some series already owe their success to the online community;
in her book, The Television Will Be Revolutionized, author
Amanda Lotz points out that when NBC added episodes of The Office
to iTunes, not only did the then marginally-successful show become the
most downloaded program, its broadcast viewership actually increased.
The CW’s Gossip Girl is another example. Commenting on
how miniscule the show’s ratings were, Cory Bergman of Lost
Remote wrote back in November, “Why
hasn’t the show been canceled? You guessed it—it’s
wildly popular online, even outpacing The Office on iTunes.
Fans sites are everywhere. And when you add DVR ratings to the mix,
it’s the most-watched show by teenagers.” Thus when the
news broke last week that the CW would no longer offer free Internet
streams of new episodes of Gossip Girl, which returned to the
airwaves this past Monday, most blog communities believed it was an
error in judgment. “This is a colossal blunder for the CW,”
wrote Random
Culture, while Michael Gray at Lost
Remote added, “This isn’t
just inconvenient for the audience who risk being alienated, but a blow
to the CW’s own website.”
The CW’s
reasoning for the decision was that online viewing is playing a role
in keeping the ratings for the actual television airings low, and for
a Network struggling to find its footing, as well as revenue, Gossip
Girls’ average 2.5 million viewers just wasn’t cutting
it. So how were the new ratings on Monday? According to Marc
Berman of The
Programming Insider, a dismal 2.44
million. Instead of sticking to a traditional television business model
and limiting access to Gossip Girl in what amounts to a failed
attempt at increasing ratings, maybe the CW should embrace the future
and find new ways to parlay the show’s success among 18-to-34-year-olds
into some sort of financial gain. After all, for a Network struggling
to find an identity, being on the “cutting edge” of the
changing television landscape might actually be the way to go.
—Anthony
Letizia (April 24, 2008)
