Movie & TV News @ IMDb.com – Studio Briefing – 7 April 2008

“Jericho, the CBS television series that was canceled because of low ratings, then revived following protests from fans, then canceled again because of low ratings, may be revived a second time, the New York Times reported today (Monday). The newspaper said that CBS may follow NBC’s recent example with Friday Night Lights in which it sold the DirecTV satellite service the right to air the series before it goes on network TV. The Times said that CBS is considering a similar option in negotiations with cable provider Comcast. Meanwhile, although DirecTV executives have expressed confidence that the Friday Night Lights deal could drive new subscribers to their service, some analysts are expressing skepticism about its ability to do so and forecasting that the DirecTV episodes will wind up being pirated on the Internet.”

This sounds like Comcast would effectively underwrite the show’s production in return for first-run rights. The twice-over cancellation of Jericho is already a testament to the lag between current media trends and viewer metrics that in turn drive advertising buys. CBS cancelled after the promised 7 episodes of season 2, citing low ratings, while also noting high consumption via non-broadcast channels including DVRs and online streaming which are not factored into Nielsen shares. This plus the creative “Nuts!” campaign that led to the second season point to a dedicated, evangelistic audience as represented on fansites like Jericho Lives. It may be that Jericho would do better on a cable network in any event, with more targeted demographics, smaller share requirements, and potentially less network restrictions on story points.