The CW Stops Online Streaming of "Gossip Girl" - Sitcoms Online Message Boards

Brian Damage · 04-18-2008, 05:18 PM

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The CW network is taking aim at an unlikely competitive threat: its own Web site.

The network said Thursday that episodes of its series "Gossip Girl" will not be streamed on CWTV.com when "Gossip" returns Monday with original episodes through season's end. The first 12 episodes of the season, which will remain on the site, were made available free to viewers about a week after their original airdate.

The CW is trying to avoid being a victim of its own success: "Gossip" has proved to be a big draw online (http://www.CWTV.com), with each episode said to be generating hundreds of thousands of streams. Episodes routinely rank among the most downloaded on iTunes, which also will continue to offer new episodes.

CW is taking the counterintuitive step of limiting "Gossip" to test whether its online window is cannibalizing the TV audience.

"While the buzz on the show has remained strong, we decided to have it be that you can only get it on our airwaves," said a CW spokesman, who deemed the withdrawal an "experimental" move. "We'll see if that at all impacts the numbers."

Yanking "Gossip" online is a stark departure from what most TV programmers are doing this season. Full episodes have been made ubiquitous online and seeded with advertising; executives tout them as purely additive measures toward maximizing their audience back on air.

But in targeting the younger demographics that tend to consume more programming on the Web than older viewers, the CW might be more vulnerable online than other TV networks with broader, older-skewing audience bases. If teens are being conditioned to catch "Gossip" online at their leisure, that could lessen the lure of appointment viewing in primetime.

The CW will do what ever it takes to protect its freshman series. Monday's episode will be its first original installment in three months because of the WGA strike and its first in a new slot since moving from Wednesdays at 9 p.m. to Mondays at 8 p.m.

Ironically, the CW cited the success of "Gossip" as one of the reasons the series received a full-season pickup in October.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter

PrettyinPink55 · 04-20-2008, 01:34 AM

That really blows!!!!!!

Buffyboy323 · 04-21-2008, 04:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PrettyinPink55

That really blows!!!!!!

Neha, Tivo is your friend!

Rachel3118 · 05-03-2008, 02:38 PM

This really annoys me, I hate having to watch it through some other site that takes forever to load. I think it is a bad move because people won't be able to catch up on episodes so they will stop trying to make an effort to religously watch gossip girl episodes.

04-18-2008, 05:18 PM	#1
Brian Damage I'm Rich Bitch Forum Icon Join Date: Feb 03, 2002 Location: What Ain't No Country I Ever Heard Of...They Speak English in What? Posts: 63,107	The CW Stops Online Streaming of "Gossip Girl" LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - The CW network is taking aim at an unlikely competitive threat: its own Web site. The network said Thursday that episodes of its series "Gossip Girl" will not be streamed on CWTV.com when "Gossip" returns Monday with original episodes through season's end. The first 12 episodes of the season, which will remain on the site, were made available free to viewers about a week after their original airdate. The CW is trying to avoid being a victim of its own success: "Gossip" has proved to be a big draw online (http://www.CWTV.com), with each episode said to be generating hundreds of thousands of streams. Episodes routinely rank among the most downloaded on iTunes, which also will continue to offer new episodes. CW is taking the counterintuitive step of limiting "Gossip" to test whether its online window is cannibalizing the TV audience. "While the buzz on the show has remained strong, we decided to have it be that you can only get it on our airwaves," said a CW spokesman, who deemed the withdrawal an "experimental" move. "We'll see if that at all impacts the numbers." Yanking "Gossip" online is a stark departure from what most TV programmers are doing this season. Full episodes have been made ubiquitous online and seeded with advertising; executives tout them as purely additive measures toward maximizing their audience back on air. But in targeting the younger demographics that tend to consume more programming on the Web than older viewers, the CW might be more vulnerable online than other TV networks with broader, older-skewing audience bases. If teens are being conditioned to catch "Gossip" online at their leisure, that could lessen the lure of appointment viewing in primetime. The CW will do what ever it takes to protect its freshman series. Monday's episode will be its first original installment in three months because of the WGA strike and its first in a new slot since moving from Wednesdays at 9 p.m. to Mondays at 8 p.m. Ironically, the CW cited the success of "Gossip" as one of the reasons the series received a full-season pickup in October. Reuters/Hollywood Reporter
	__________________ The Key to the Kingdom of Heaven: John 3:3 *Money Doesn't Buy Happiness...But I'd Rather Cry in My Private Jet*

04-20-2008, 01:34 AM	#2
PrettyinPink55 Member Forum Celebrity Join Date: Feb 11, 2005 Location: Texas Posts: 24,601	That really blows!!!!!!
	__________________ ♥♥♥

05-03-2008, 02:38 PM	#4
Rachel3118 Member Senior Member Join Date: Jun 13, 2005 Posts: 1,768	This really annoys me, I hate having to watch it through some other site that takes forever to load. I think it is a bad move because people won't be able to catch up on episodes so they will stop trying to make an effort to religously watch gossip girl episodes.
	__________________ Rachel