Gossip Girl = TV 3.0?
With the return of the CW’s Gossip Girl this week, the media has been a buzz with news that the CW will not longer offer free, full viewing of Gossip Girl episodes online, in an effort to improve traditional media ratings. As someone who discovered the show online, and some what shamefully admits to loving the show, I was very disappointed. The drama of Serena, Blair, Dan and the rest of the crew has greatly improved the quality of numerous cross country plane trips via my ipod — the other market Gossip Girl dominates.
A article from Wired today raised some interesting points about Gossip Girl and how the show’s online success could be the emergence of “TV 3.0.” I think this is a fantastic example of tech savvy teens (the show’s main audience base) demanding media on their own terms and the adult dominated TV industry not knowing how to respond. To cut the online community off at the knees by dropping the availability of online episodes is a lame way to deal with the conflict between new media and old measurements. It be great to see the CW lead the charge for stronger online integration with traditional TV shows instead of backing down from the challenge.
Tags: Blair, CW, Dan, Gossip Girl, new media, no online episodes, old measurements, Serena, Wired
