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?

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.)

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.

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.