iTunes saved “The Office.”
A year ago, the NBC comedy was about to suffer the fate of thousands of other shows that labored under the tyranny of the Nielsen ratings: It was about to get the ax.
Then on Oct. 12, 2005, ABC cut a deal with Apple’s iTunes online store to sell TV shows for $1.99 an episode, and a few hours later NBC followed. Since those deals were made, 45 million TV shows have been sold on iTunes.
And “The Office” was an immediate iTunes hit.
“It was this huge gift that made everyone kind of go ‘Wait, what’s going on with that show?’ ” says Paul Lieberstein, one of “The Office” executive producers–who also plays human resources manager Toby on the show.
While neither Apple nor NBC release numbers (a million total monthly downloads for all TV shows is one estimate), “The Office” now reigns as the “Seinfeld” of iTunes. While it recently ceded the top spot to “Lost,” most weeks the NBC comedy is the single most downloaded show.
“I’m not sure that we’d still have the show on the air” without the iTunes boost, says Angela Bromstead, president of NBC Universal Television Studio, which owns and produces “The Office.” “The network had only ordered so many episodes, but when it went on iTunes and really started taking off, that gave us another way to see the true potential other than just Nielsen Media Research. It just kind of happened at a great time.”
“The Office” went on to win a best comedy Emmy last August, and along with “My Name Is Earl,” will be the only scripted NBC show in the 7 p.m. hour that won’t be shoved aside by game shows or reality shows.
iTunes not only saved “The Office” but also probably NBC’s “30 Rock” as well. Another relatively mediocre Nielsen performer, “30 Rock” is expected to be a big iTunes seller.
When the networks–CBS followed quickly–signed those deals with iTunes last October, no one had a clue what would happen. They have clues now. iTunes has saved shows, driven new viewers to the networks and their Web sites, and even changed the way shows are produced. TV producers are even pondering their shows’ afterlives on iTunes.
The iTunes Top 50 shows the most popular buys every day, and the running chart has emerged as a shadow world to Nielsen’s ratings charts. The iTunes chart feels cutting-edge, and maybe even a true reflection of what people–at least obsessive, primarily male ones–are watching. The Nielsen chart feels old-world–a fuzzy reflection of a couch-potato nation.
iTunes has almost certainly saved other shows, too, or at least given them a new lease on life. NBC recently ordered more scripts for its low-rated “Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.” Would that have happened if “Studio” didn’t have just the slightest traction on iTunes? Four episodes placed recently in the iTunes top 50.
Also intriguing is what doesn’t sell well. Nielsen hits such as “CSI: Miami” or “NCIS” are no-shows in the Top 50. “The Simpsons?” Nada.
Fox’s “Prison Break,” however, is a regular. What does any of this mean? Who knows–except, perhaps that serialized dramas and guy-oriented shows are the biggest beneficiaries of the iTunes effect.
Ever since the iTunes effect kicked in last December for “The Office,” the show’s writers and producers have paid almost as much attention to iTunes as to NBC. “Because people are watching more than once,” Lieberstein says, “it’s become one more reason for us to be very careful to include subtle things as well as broad physical stuff.”
The iTunes effect hasn’t hurt in attracting big-name directors to “The Office” either; Harold Ramis will direct an hour-long episode to air around Christmas, while “Lost’s” J.J. Abrams is on board for a February episode.
NBC’s Bromstead says of “The Office”: “It’s a very important asset to us as a studio, so … even if [the show, with about 9 million regular viewers] doesn’t turn into a traditional network hit, or a blockbuster, we’ll accept that as well.”
Online TV drawing young men
Armed this fall with a technological arsenal that includes On Demand downloads and online video streams, TV executives say for the first time they are reaching the most elusive TV audience segment: Young adult males.
Men in general watch 50 fewer minutes of TV per day than women, according to Nielsen Media Research. In particular, prime-time network audiences are almost two-thirds female.
Young men 18 to 34, whose buying habits have yet to be formed, watch less TV than any other adult group. They typically choose other after-work activities, such as video games and playing sports, said University of Maryland media economist and historian Douglas Gomery.
THE BALTIMORE SUN.
