iTunes Saved The Office?
Did iTunes save The Office?
According to an article on Newsday.com that seems to be the consensus. Verne Gay, the writer, documents a set of events that led to where The Office is at today. In the beginning NBC only ordered a whopping six 
episodes of The Office for it’s first season. The show was still getting mediocre Nielsen ratings in the second season. Then ABC penned a deal with iTunes to carry some of its shows, NBC followed right along.
According to the article Angela Bromstead, president of NBC Universal Television Studio, which owns and produces “The Office.” Said:
“I’m not sure that we’d still have the show on the air without the iTunes boost. 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. It just kind of happened at a great time.”
After that The Office has gained considerable recognition by winning an Emmy.
It’s amazing the power the internet has. In my opinion the internet is going to be the TV of the future. But, contrary to this article I think there are a couple more things that helped The Office stay on the air.
First, TV on DVD. This marvelous invention has just taken off in the past couple years. I guarantee that helped a bit.
Also, word-of-mouth. Simple as that. The Office is hilarious, and people talk about it. Everyone I know, knows about The Office because of me. But, it seems that iTunes was that missing link. I think back to Arrested Development. Could that show have been saved by iTunes? I think so. Just bad timing. (Also, it would’ve helped if it had been on NBC and not FOX, but that’s a different blog for another day).
BUT, the article didn’t stop there. It revealed something that
totally caught me off guard concerning some upcoming episodes of The Office. There’s an hour special planned around Christmas that will be directed by none other than Harold Ramis, the wonderful director of Groundhog’s Day and The Ice Harvest. Another episode is planned for February that will feature J.J. Abrams, Lost creator/guru, at the helm. Those are some episodes to look forward to, I know I am.
The Office, iTunes, Harold Ramis, J.J. Abrams, NBC
November 1st, 2006 at 4:10 pm
Aaron- I think you’re right. The internet definitely saved The Office. Now lets just hope that it doesn’t become the only source people go to for it. TV on DVD, while fabulous, can also be the death of shows; what with people waiting for it to come out so they can watch it any time and without commercials. Isn’t that what happened to Arrested Development?
November 1st, 2006 at 5:15 pm
Loren,
No Arrested Development just didn’t EVER get good ratings.
The Family Guy is a prime example of what DVD sales can do for a show. The Family Guy actually ended a long time ago, but was revived because of great DVD sales.
Aaron.
November 2nd, 2006 at 12:13 pm
Huh. I love The Office, and I love J.J. Abrams (when I don’t want to strangle him). But the two together? I’m not sure what to make of this.
November 2nd, 2006 at 12:33 pm
Liz,
Me either, but it sure will be fun to find out!
Aaron.
November 2nd, 2006 at 2:13 pm
I think word of mouth and the ability to go check it out at your leisure is what saved it. It used to be that you could tell everyone about a show you loved, but if they had already missed a few episodes, most wouldn’y even try to start on a season in progress. With the iTunes, they could go an d try it out from the beginning and if they like it get caught up before the next week.
I think TV is going to become an on demand typ of service. The idea of a show being on a certain night will become irrelevant Tivo and DVR’s are proof of that. Look for shows to start having release dates for download. People will choose which night is their ‘The Office’ night and so forth.
November 2nd, 2006 at 3:07 pm
I think that’s an accurate prediction. But, I think it’s pretty far off, just because giant conglomerate networks don’t like to give up the power they have. They’re always at least 2 or 3 years behind the times. Look, just now they are putting shows on the internet, when for a few years now people have been downloading them for free.
Nielsen is just starting to do ratings for people’s TiVos. It takes these guys a lot of time to catch up with technology. Look how long it took the music industry to figure out something to combat Limewire.
These people like the power they have, and they won’t give it up easily. But, it all truly shows that ultimately the consumer has the power. That’s nice to know.
Aaron.
November 2nd, 2006 at 6:54 pm
I can’t wait for Harold Ramis (aka Dr. Spangler from Ghostbusters) to direct one of the next episodes of The Office. It is going to be a hilarious episode. I think that I will prepare now by purchasing a package of Depends so that I will be ready for all the laughter.
I also agree that we as consumers have the power to dictate the future, or lack of, of some shows. I think about Family Guy. It was axed after three seasons and after all the fans bought the DVDs, the show was reinstated. Go consumerism
December 15th, 2006 at 7:26 pm
[...] The Office, and NBC, have also found out how important the internet is (and will become) in the future of television. With The Office literally being saved by iTunes it’s become a very hip-20-something show. [...]