Network vs. Cable TV and the Developing Social Media Storyline

I grew up on a dirt road, so when cable came to our area, trust that I am not exaggerating when I say it was kind of a big deal.  Granted, I was about fifteen at the time, so my must-see list was pretty restricted to such Nickelodeon gems as Clarissa Explains it All, Hey Dude and Are You Afraid of the Dark?  In fact, I’m pretty convinced this is where my lifelong status as TV addict was born.  (Stop judging me.)  I’m a bit older now, but I’m still as addicted to TV – cable and otherwise – as I was then.  I think four out of my top six shows are all on cable, and I don’t see anything changing about that anytime soon. 

Don’t get me wrong – there’s definitely still “must-see” TV on the big networks – I can’t live without ABC’s Lost, NBC’s critically acclaimed Friday Night Lights, or the ongoing reality juggernaut that is FOX’s American Idol (And, yes, I even vote.  Go, Adam!) But I still believe the riskiest, most interesting television remains the providence of the cable channels.  USA’s character dramas are absolutely second-to-none (and I would say that even if I hadn’t worked on a bunch of them!).  They often rival production values of more established network series – plus, I’d put Burn Notice’s Michael Westen up against 24’s Jack Bauer any day and Psych’s Shawn Spencer would probably give that guy on The Mentalist a run for his money.  FX is constantly proving their “There is no box” tagline true with edgy fare such as Rescue Me and Nip/Tuck, both of which push the boundaries of “traditional” television and expected characters.  And SCI FI’s beloved (and, lamentably, recently wrapped) Battlestar Galactica is probably the best TV series of the past five years, save only HBO’s incomparable police drama The Wire. (Actually, I’m pretty sure SCI FI was the first client I ever pushed to get staffed on at work, because their stuff is that good.)  Even AMC, a channel previously known for its dedication to classic film, is getting into the TV act, producing stellar original dramas like Mad Men and Breaking Bad.

Furthermore, with the advent of streaming video, cable properties are more accessible to the general public than ever.  And cable nets have been among the fastest to take advantage of the internet and social media in order to attract, engage and keep viewers – from making their offerings available through their own sites or through streaming portal Hulu.com (sometimes both!) to creating Facebook pages, Twitter profiles and ridiculously detailed websites, so fans are never further than a click away from a favorite show.  If the average TV viewer is a fickle being, these networks never want them to get the chance to be bored.  And this strategy gives the serious TV connoisseur (i.e. me) an opportunity to really be obsessively crazy about their favorite shows.  It’s kind of awesome.

Major networks are doing their best to get in on the internet act – but, honestly, I feel like they have a bit of catching up to do in terms of expanding beyond traditional fare.  ABC’s official Lost page offers mostly streaming episodes and standard episode/character recaps.  (They do have some interesting video podcasts, though, which are also offered through iTunes.)  CBS’s various show pages all offer fairly similar features. Their biggest exception seems to be How I Met Your Mother, (a show I often lament we’ve never worked on, despite our previous projects with CBS) which features a hilarious version of Barney’s blog on the main site and often spawns other real-life sites referenced in or based on the show – TedMosbyIsAJerk.com is a URL that really works and Robin Sparkles has both a Facebook profile and a MySpace page.  However, most sites of this nature come are crafted as viral efforts rather  than officially sponsored or branded content.  In contrast, NBC’s official site for The Office  is pretty fantastic, IMO – full of extras like character blogs, widgets, wallpaper, games, posters, an Andy/Angela wedding micro site…just tons of content.  (I really need them to start updating Creed Thoughts again, though. Badly.)  That does seem to be a bit of a problem with the “bigger” network sites, some of these really great online features, like Creed Thoughts and Dwight’s Schrute Space, haven’t been updated in well over a year.  I think it’s really important to capitalize on good ideas like these by keeping the content fresh.  Otherwise people stop coming back and/or get distracted by the next shiny internet thing while waiting for updates.

But, to me, cable nets are where the really exciting and innovative stuff seems to be happen in terms of online content.  They push the envelope with extensive extras, videos and features, almost across the board.  SCI FI gave us sets of exclusive webisodes during Battlestar Galactica’s various hiatuses, which not only led to my incessant weekly refreshing of their page, but obsessively speculating about how webisode events tied into larger storylines and further fleshed out existing characters.  FX has fewer offerings in terms of online games and the like, but it is absolutely one of the best networks out there at making mass quantities of their content available online – I watched three entire seasons of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia via Hulu prior to its Season 4 debut (we working on it at the time and I’d never seen it before, and it made me a fan for sure. I loved it!)  Right now, you can catch the entire first two seasons of Rescue Me there, they offered a webisode series last summer and they’re currently producing an “After Hours Roundtable” promoting the Season 5 premiere, where Denis Leary and the rest of the cast have dinner and talk about the show and are kind of wildly inappropriate but also hilarious.  (It is very much for mature audiences only, but I watched all 10 parts in a row because they were so entertaining.)  USA’s sites (and every single original show they have has a huge one) give me a constantly updating roster of games, interactive quizzes and video extras.  And this year the network is expanding its “Characters Welcome” tagline offscreen, with the creation of Characters Unite, in which the network has partnered with multiple human rights groups in an initiative to urge fans to combat prejudice, intolerance, discrimination and hate in their own communities by signing a pledge.  It’s a really well done mixture of the networks’ brand and a bit of real world activism.  I’m intrigued to see what else they do with it – so far it has a Facebook widget and a list of 50 suggestions for increasing diversity and tolerance of all kinds in your own life.  I am hopeful for increased content over time, as I think it’s really a lovely idea, first of all, and a really smart move by USA to capitalize on what makes their programming different and compelling.

My thing is this – TV audiences are getting smarter and savvier every day and they have more tools than ever available to them when it comes to making decisions about not only what they want to watch but how they want to watch it.  The internet’s already a huge part of those decisions and it’s only going to get busier out there and all the networks – cable or otherwise are going to have to be smart about how they leverage their content and give people as many options and as much variety online as they get onscreen.