The TV studios just don't get it.

Fri, Nov 3, 2006
Me
Permalink
6 comments

So, on a whim, I went over to YouTube today and searched for “Parker Lewis”. I don’t know if any of you remember the show Parker Lewis Can’t Lose, but it was one of my favorites growing up. My dad and I used to watch it every week. Not only that, but Parker and his friends were geeky (and funny geeky, not horribly-awkward-to-watch geeky like Screech on Saved By The Bell.) Lo and behold, someone had posted a partial episode of Parker Lewis Can’t Lose up there.

The TV studios just don’t get it. I would have happily watched this partial episode as a preview and paid $10 to see all the episodes right then and there. I would have a much happier night tonight reliving memories of my childhood by watching Parker Lewis than I would by watching any of the crap that’s on TV right now, and I would pay to do that. Hello, studios? Parker Lewis isn’t making you any money sitting on dusty reels in some studio basement in Hollywood. Having it easily accessible online for a small per-download fee would make you money.

My personal belief is that we’ll see a real push from the studios to make this happen in the next 5-10 years, and I do believe that in my lifetime there will be micropayments (probably tacked onto a cable bill) to view each episode of old TV shows right from your TV or computer, on demand. But I don’t know how far they’ll go. Sure, a lot of people will pay to see the “big” classics like Cheers or Seinfeld. But will little shows like Parker Lewis ever make it to these on-demand distribution channels? I’m here to say to the studios: You’ll make more money by exploring the “long tail” of cult-hit shows like Parker Lewis than you will by only distributing the biggest shows. But who knows if they’ll actually listen to me…

andrew says:

11/3/2006 at 12:45 am

They can do it now on iTunes or Google if they feel like it. The problem is that they don’t feel like it, but they also don’t want anyone else doing their job for them.

George says:

11/3/2006 at 11:05 am

Music rights are sometimes very very hard to get. A studio will give the rights in 1995, then they get bought out, pissed off, or greedy, and refuse the rights in 2006 or in a different medium. This is one thing that delayed Freaks and Geeks showing up on DVD.

And not just music rights. If the show is old enough, the actors, directors, etc. didn’t have ‘home video distribution’ in their contracts, so those need to be negotiated.

Neal says:

11/3/2006 at 12:32 pm

I don’t know, I think you’re overestimating the value of this. Many, many, many times I’ve been reminded of old shows I loved while growing up and wished they were back on tv where I could watch them again. Almost without exception when one’s turned up and I’ve tuned in I’m quickly overcome with feelings of extreme disappointment and sometimes embarrasment. The vast majority of this content was only enjoyed because it related to the times (personal and societal) in which it was shown. Now, that my life and society has changed, I don’t relate to it the same way. Instead I see so many of the things that are wrong, silly, stupid, sadly pathetic, etc. with it that I can’t enjoy it anymore.

Yes, I see some shows that withstand the test of time for me. Oddly enough, the shows that do are the ones that were set in another time to begin with.

Russ says:

11/3/2006 at 1:52 pm

I totally agree. I’d go back and watch cartoons that I wanted to watch that aired at 7 AM, and I always had to leave for the bus at 7:15 to get to the stop.