Commentary

Just An Online Minute... No Ratings Bump From CW's No-Stream Strategy

The CW's decision to nix free streams of "Gossip Girl" in order to boost TV ratings seemed like a dubious move at the time. And now that the episode has aired, it's clear that the strategy isn't likely to work.

Monday night's episode, the first to return after the writers' strike, drew a reported 2.44 million viewers -- only around 1% more than last November, according to Wired.

Last fall, the show was considered a hit, and was among the first to be renewed for a second season, but its success was largely driven by the Web. "Gossip Girl" sold well on iTunes, but also found an online audience eager to stream the show on demand. After all, teens and tweens -- who have largely grown up with the Web -- have shown they're comfortable watching video online. In fact, if the viewers of this particular TV show weren't comfortable with online media, large swaths of the program -- which is, after all, named for a fictional Upper East Side blogger -- would leave them scratching their heads.

Many of those who discovered the show online will surely still find it on the Web, on sites that offer pirated versions of the show. Others will stop watching. But it's not likely that today's heavily scheduled teens and tweens are going to embrace the prospect of consuming media on a timetable set by executives.

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