“Mr. Robot” just completed its addictive first season on the heels of Stephen Colbert's debut as host of “The Late Show.” I'm an unabashed fan of Colbert's and
predict big success for him on CBS. As for USA Network's “Mr. Robot,” it deserves all the critical accolades it’s received, as well as its status as the summer's breakout
hit.
Beyond representing high quality, what knits USA Network's “Mr. Robot” and CBS's “Late Show with Stephen Colbert” together is that both have exploited the TV
Everywhere universe.
If you're not already obsessed with “Mr. Robot,” a deliciously paranoid hacker drama, perfect for the age of the NSA, Snowden and Anonymous, I suggest you
check it out immediately. This is not the usual middle-of-the road “Psych” and “Royal Pains” USA fare. “Mr. Robot” is a calculated decision on
USA's part to grab an upscale audience looking for sophisticated, edgy stuff.
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Launching “Mr Robot,” USA knew a multiplatform approach was a must. The network put
together a marketing/distribution strategy using virtually every conceivable platform, including Facebook -- something USA had never done before. More than 3 million viewers caught the pilot in its
pre-network run, with USA running promos during its decidedly middlebrow line-up. So successful was the response to the series on its preview platforms that “Mr. Robot” got the
green light for a second season before its official USA debut.
Clearly, here was a chance for a network to step out of its programming comfort zone, which in a pre-digital age was next
to impossible. How many terrific series never got the run they deserved because they were out of sync with their home network’s brand? Think of a time not-so-distant, of
“Freaks & Geeks” on NBC or “My So-Called Life” on ABC. In a non-linear TV ecosystem, there's more of an opportunity to stray from a network's core programming identity and
bring a new lucrative audience in.
And back on CBS, if Colbert launches big and stays strong, it will be because he's taken full advantage of every available platform, as well as his
tremendous gifts as an entertainer. He's certainly done this throughout the summer, selling his singular brand of comedy everywhere from cable access to YouTube to a blimp floating over a
college football stadium last Saturday.
Another way Colbert has been promoting the debut of “The Late Show” is by going full force in his partnerships with advertisers.
He’s taking lessons learned from his Comedy Central days, when he was an effective pitchman for such brands as Doritos with his“Colbert Report” persona. Out of the gate on “The
Late Show,” Colbert is doing likewise, integrating extremely funny comic bits for Sabra Hummus and Oreos into the premiere show. Rest assured those clips will be pushed everywhere,
especially the one comparing the irresistible pull of those cream-filled cookies to the media's irresistible addiction to Donald Trump.
Neither Colbert nor “Mr. Robot”
are a natural fit with their respective networks. Yet in a TV Everywhere universe, they are positioned to bring in new viewers and make them feel right at home.