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ABC will not be making the Pushing Daisies pilot available online:
ABC Won’t Be Pushing ‘Daisies’ Pilot Too Hard on Web
ABC has decided not to make the pilot episode of its much-talked-about fall series Pushing Daisies available for previewing on the Internet. Although scenes from the episode will likely be posted on YouTube and other video-sharing websites, ABC marketing chief Michael Benson told the Associated Press that presenting the full episode online could cannibalize the ratings for the actual show. “I have the same approach that Coca-Cola might have when they’re launching a product,” Benson said. “The idea is to get people to sample a product, then come in and buy more. You don’t give a six-pack; you give a sample and hope they’ll buy a six-pack if they like it.”
Source: IMDb.com Movie & TV News
I get why they aren’t doing it but it makes me wonder how much research has been done about the online audience. How much of that audience are people who don’t have other ways to access the pilot? Can research even tell that? How many people are willing to admit that they are getting their hands on pilots whether the networks make them available on their websites or not? Still, of the people I know who watch TV online, only a few aren’t people who couldn’t (or, rather, wouldn’t) find them another way if they wanted. And those few are the ones who would totally watch something online and then re-watch it when it aired if they really liked it. (Take, for instance, the friend I got hooked on Supernatural. She watched the episodes that were available on The CW’s website but feels like you can’t really get a feel for the show that way so she taped and re-watched all of the episodes when they re-aired.)
I mean, I do get what he’s saying and I actually agree. If I’ve already watched an episode online, I only re-watch the episode the night it is aired if I don’t have anything else to watch. I know at least one or two other people who do the same. So it definitely hurts the ratings on that first episode to some degree when people don’t have to tune in to see it and it’s very possible that Benson knows Pushing Daisies has something to prove to the upper management at ABC. After all, it’s the show they are pushing (heh) the most and everyone, whether they loved or hated it, universally agrees that it’s going to be an uphill battle for a show this quirky to survive. So, I can see why Benson wants protect the ratings even on that very first night.
That said, I’m still curious just how much of the audience you really lose by putting the episode online early. If the ones you lose are the ones who are going keep the buzz about the show alive, at what point do you pick one over the other? (The hard part there being that you can measure ratings. Buzz? Not so much.) Of course, ABC has actually done a lot to get the show out there early despite not making it available online. Plus, they know there’s a rogue copy of it out there. If they’re anything like me, they’re probably thinking that anyone who really wants to see it online, will find a way and hopefully those people will tune in to the first episode anyway thinking they didn’t see the final edited copy. But I’m making a lot of assumptions right there because Benson’s Coke example makes me think he doesn’t quite understand the audience watching episodes online. Especially those who will go watch a NEW show online before it has started airing. Those people have had their sample and now want the chance to buy the first six-packs available so that they can tell everyone else how great this new flavor of Coke is…
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1. Pingback by Twinkle, Twinkle Little Blog » Give Me My Remote on 4 September 2007:
[...] To pilots online or not post pilots online…that is the question. And it’s a question explored from all angles with regards to ABC announcement that they won’t be launching their buzzed about new show PUSHING DAISIES online before it premieres in October. An interesting read, one of which I’d love your take on. (Ramblings of a TV Whore) [...]
2. Pingback by Premiering Pilots Online - Help or Hurt? » Give Me My Remote on 4 September 2007:
[...] most talked about new show PUSHING DAISIES online before it’s October 3rd premiere, Rae of Ramblings of a TV Whore explored the pros and cons an early online release of new shows. (Read Rae’s take [...]
3. Comment by Gaby on 5 September 2007:
Sucks that ABC won’t put it online. I know my friend Ken only would watch the show early if it was on iTunes or other legal means.
In any event due to my fall courses, I won’t be able to watch the show live so it’s good I’m not a Nielsen viewer.
4. Comment by eolivet on 11 September 2007:
(I’m just now catching up on your blog, thanks to our fascinating discussion about YouTube!
Apologies for not commenting sooner. 
My theory is I think it’s that ABC *knows* that it has the online *fandom* for this show (well, buzz-wise) — it’s already got a diehard group of online supporters. The network knows these folks have probably found a way to see the Pilot through, ahem, other means.
But presumably that buzz has now spread offline, and if offline fans hear about it, they might be tempted to go online, see the show, and never give it a second thought. But keeping the show offline (legally) means those people who will never get it through other means, but *would* watch it legally, will now be forced to watch it on TV.
Wow, that makes no sense at all — in essence, I think they’re trying to build buzz for the online-savvy viewer, but one who won’t participate in online *fandom.* The more casual viewer. And buzz + no (legal) access may = big(ger) ratings when the show finally premieres.
Put it this way: if it was available legally, you’d have online-savvy people going to see “what all the buzz is about” now. Because it’s not, ABC hopes those people will see” what all the buzz is about” on October 3.
5. Comment by Rae on 11 September 2007:
Hey there! No need to apologize. I know how it gets.
Actually I think what you were saying made perfect sense and I like your theory. It makes sense given that ABC does know that a copy of the pilot is out there (how can they not when someone from the show itself admits to leaking it - as do the PR people, err, they admit to knowing it’s there not to leaking it) but still want good ratings the night of the premiere.
Your theory just makes me even more curious as to how much research has gone into online viewing. Obviously they can keep track of the number of times a stream is hit so they have a way to keep the numbers. It’s the correlation between the people watching online and those watching at home I’m interested in. Like, how do they measure what percentage of people who view shows on their site are included in the ratings? (I assume there is probably something people who do the Nielsen logs are supposed to track about themselves but I haven’t seen that discussed anywhere so I’m not sure.)
6. Comment by eolivet on 13 September 2007:
Actually, online viewing isn’t measured through Nielsen diaries or any other form of people meter measurement. It’s measured through the Web site stats, like you said, but there’s no way of factoring it into the ratings just yet (and actually, that probably won’t happen, just because people watching it online aren’t seeing the ads, and while networks would want to know about it, advertisers would have no interest in those viewers).
But another reason I’m wondering about is I heard from a few folks who went to the Paley showings that they changed some of the PD Pilot (just a few things), and perhaps ABC, anticipating these changes, wanted to hold back for that reason. So viewers wouldn’t see an “unfinished” version?
I think they’re reasonably confident that the people going to the Paley showings and early previews are going to be fairly substantial fans, so they’re not showing it to anyone who might watch it when it airs on October 3.
Isn’t it fascinating how fandom has essentially become part of the ratings business?