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So, you got all excited that a new tv show came out and you need your fix. You checked On Demand, but it’s not there!!! Next stop is Hulu right? Again its missing. They might have the first episode, but you already saw it! You want the next three!!!

As someone who has felt this pain many a time and a student of digital media, planning & research I have taken it upon myself to figure out why television networks have chosen not to put up new shows and pilots on the internet the same day they air them on television.

My story started when I wanted to watch AMC’s ‘The Pitch’. I checked On Demand, Hulu, Project-free-tv, letmewatchthis.com and many, many more. Unfortunately even internet piracy can’t land me an episode of this rare earth. So I have taken to the next best thing, hunting down the internal contact list of AMC and emailing anyone in the company who might know the answer like the media planning supervisor, digital media planner, digital programming supervisor, etc. (as well as customer service because they HAVE TO answer my email). Below is a copy of the email I sent and I will keep you all up to date as they respond so that one day we might finally learn the corporate reasons why our favorite shows are not yet online.

My email to AMC:

“To whom it may concern,

I have recently taken a great interest in the show ‘The Pitch’. Unfortunately the show’s air time overlaps with one of my other commitments leaving me unable to watch it. My question is: with a brand new show like ‘The Pitch’, why would you limit the amount of people capable of watching it by restricting the distribution channels? Why wouldn’t you instead get as many people to see it as soon as possible online, there by building a large and active fan-base using the benefits of social media trending? You have great and engaging social media built around the show with polls and conversation topics but it’s all useless if I can’t watch the episodes online and then talk about them. According to Carolyn Lin’s social media audience supplementation writings in the Communication Science Journals
the social media participation rate of people watching the show online then talking about it, is much higher than watching it on TV then going online to talk about it . I’m sure there is a good reason behind the delayed availability and I am very curious as to what that is. I love your shows and look forward to hearing from you guys. Thank you.

Best Regards,

Kristian Wesslen”