I’m catching up a bit here because I was traveling when this news item happened, but Download Movies 101 reported last week that CBS had mysteriously pulled full-length episodes of its surprise hit shows The Mentalist and Eleventh Hour from CBS.com, which of course means all of CBS’s syndication partners like AOL and Fancast are unable to show the episodes as well.
It’s especially confusing when it’s clear CBS is committed to full-length episode streaming. The site is full of hit shows like How I Met Your Mother which air full episodes online. Plus, CBS has recently extended certain full-length shows to YouTube.
It turns out that the fault does not fall to CBS, but to Warner Brothers Television. Not only is WBT behind the pull-down of The Mentalist and Eleventh Hour, but it’s also the source behind the removal of full episodes of Big Bang Theory, a hit comedy produced by, you guessed it, Warner Brothers Television.
Why does Warner Brothers Television hate us so much?
Maybe a better question is, why do they hate themselves so much? Remember, this is one of the entities that was behind the removal of Gossip Girl from the CW web site at the end of last season. Says one commenter on the Big Bang Theory fan forum:
If Warner Bros is really the culprit then CBS should renegotiate. This show barely made it a second season, and without people like me being able to catch up online, this show is toast. I really like the show but since I missed last episode, it kind of turns me off from watching any more of them since I missed out on what happened last episode. … It is nice that they have a recap and some clips, but not being able to see the actual show online when I miss an episode may make me turn it off for good. I did the same thing to The Office on NBC last year when they weren’t showing the episodes online. Now I don’t watch The Office at all.
Click to see full version and note how the good-until date is prominently displayed.
I want to riff on The Office for a moment because this is one show that does it right. Because there are no rules yet for how many episodes a network should put online or for how long they should remain online. The Office resolves this dilemma for viewers by showing you exactly which episodes are available, when they aired and for how long they will remain available. Brilliant. You give the audience the rules of engagement and they can’t complain when the shows disappear because you gave fair warning.
Fair warning, of course, is exactly what CBS (and Warner) did not give viewers of The Mentalist or Eleventh Hour. So what’s going on?
I’m convinced it’s renegotiation time. And that’s not just between CBS and Warner (who are parnters on so many things that it’s unlikely they are suffering a relationship breakdown). It’s also renegotiation season for producers and the actors. Remember the writers’ strike? One of the issues that strike focused on was what share of online streaming revenues should go to writers. At the time I briefly consulted an entertainment law firm that represents producers and actors who were wondering the same question. I have a hunch much of this is being done to push Warner and CBS to realize they would rather renegotiate quickly than let their popular shows languish.
I could be way off on this, I’m not a Burbank insider so I can’t say what’s going on, but I will say this. Future TV deals are going to come with online rights completely sewn up. There will not be room for mid-season shenanigans in the future.
December 2, 2008 at 11:11 pm
Dear CBS,
You guys are schizophrenic, and you’re frustrating your viewers. With the crazy “xx:01″ start and end times, network problems, sports overruns, horrible cable DVRs, and other issues, many of us rely on being able to watch the full episode of a primetime show here online – at least as a last resort. That’s been possible for some shows, but not for others – then you made what seemed to be a commitment to offer all primetime shows here – now they’re all gone.
We don’t get it. We’re watching your show. You’re showing us the commercials. Fair trade – or at least it seemed to be to us. What happened? Did you negotiate a bad deal with the advertisers? Did you find a way to make more money selling the episodes as straight-to-the-dollar-bin DVDs? Why do all of the primeime video web pages still say “Full Episodes” (or, in at least one case, “Full Episods”), when all that remains are clips?
Please return the full episodes to the web – or at least step up and say why you won’t make them available.
In an era of “choice overload”, we don’t understand why you’re making this difficult for us. We’d think you want to make your product consumable “on demand”, like your competition is so adeptly doing. You’re frustrating us, and it’s driving us even further away from you.
Signed,
Your viewers
December 3, 2008 at 2:00 pm
A very passionate yet reasonable response from Phil. I think Phil’s concerns are going to be shared by more and more people as time goes by.
I was pleased that Phil noted that the CBS.com page for The Mentalist continues to say “view full episodes” at the top of the browser, even though full episodes are not available.
This little sign is another reason why I’m willing to wager that this is about contractual negotiations going on behind the scenes. Otherwise we’d see some kind of public explanation from CBS or WBT.
December 9, 2008 at 6:13 pm
I ONLY watch episodes online. When CBS (or WB or whoever) decides to stop making episodes available online, they have lost me as a viewer. I am not alone in this. For the less intelligent readers out there, let me make this very clear. No episodes online = lost viewers = lost revenue.
December 11, 2008 at 11:26 am
[...] is par for the course. One of my most read posts in the history of this blog is my piece on Why CBS Pulled The Mentalist From CBS.com. I also briefly covered how Sony Pictures apparently pulled certain of its films from Netflix only [...]
December 11, 2008 at 6:01 pm
I ONLY watch episodes online also. I have to choose between cable or internet, and thats a no brainer. The net lets me choose when and what I watch, and with my eratic work schedual thats the only way I can keep up. And even in my area I know I am not the only one. I know at least 30 people that also watch ONLY online and the ability to watch online was one of the SELLING points of this show. Like Rebecca said, NO EPISODES ONLINE = LOST VIEWERS = LOST REVENUE.
December 14, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Like all of you, I am also very frustrated that the full episodes are not posted on CBS. I have to record the shows in order to watch them after my kids go to bed and on many occasions, I have forgotten to set the DVR. When the season began, I had to watch online only until I replaced my broken DVR. I have missed the last four weeks! I just want the show back! Thanks for listening!
December 21, 2008 at 1:38 pm
I totally agree with others here! I go to bed early, and when I have time and my husband is watching his sports, I go online to catchup on vids. I watched two episodes of The Mentalist and was so pleased that CBS would allow online viewing. Most of the shows I do love are available to watch, some are not and because they are not I do not watch anything on their channels. I enjoy the moments when I can escape and watch TV online, everyone is happy. BUT when CBS STOP allowing their episodes to be viewed, I became frustrated and have not watched their programming.
Though I know this all lays in the hands of the “powers that might be”, it is still not a good move on their part to cut out the viewers who are the reason why certain shows are a hit. I do not like to go “shopping” around to find episodes of programs that are questionably absent from the viewing lists available. To keep the viewers happy the “powers that might be” should consider the profits made from online viewing instead of finding other means of making the “ole great dollar” that shines in their pockets.
January 8, 2009 at 12:16 am
I have no other way to view CBS programming unless it is up on the internet .My satellite provider is NO LONGER able to carry CBS due to contract issues with the local CBS carrier .If CBS does not put the programs online I will no longer be able to view the programs .so PLEASE Put full episodes back online .thanks you .my shows are being held hostage !!! HELP!!!
January 14, 2009 at 10:51 pm
WE NEED TO ADAPT AND OVER COME. THERE ARE A LOT MORE GOOD SHOWS AVAILABLE ON THE NET. iF THEY WANT TO KEEP THEIR SHOWS TO THEM SELVES SO BE IT.
January 22, 2009 at 6:07 pm
One would think that CBS would realize what damage they’re doing to their own bottom line. Lost or frustrated viewers will go elsewhere. In this economy, it seems that you’d want to do everything possible to keep your customer (viewer) happy. Maybe it’s time for CBS to go under. The web and webisodes are such a big part of viewing nowadays, it makes no sense to not use it to its fullest. Shame on CBS and/or Warner. You’ve lost me as a viewer! Pity…
January 28, 2009 at 9:36 pm
Just a couple of comments:
1) I don’t really fault CBS for the initial issue, but they’ve had a few months to sort it out with WB. What’s the holdup?
2) Why is CBS lying to us about having full episodes? Google “the mentalist full episode” and the first hit is CBS’s Mentalist page. The title and description metadata for the page still say “watch full episodes”.
January 29, 2009 at 1:02 am
I love the Mentalist. However, I have a prior commitment on the night the show airs. I would love to stay on top of the show but I feel that I will not be able to. This turns me off to ever watching the show again. Another loyal viewer lost. Oh well im sure there are only a couple million like me what do you care.
January 30, 2009 at 10:07 am
I wish CBS were reading this post. The comments keep coming in, people are making very good points (in addition to the rash threats of piracy). Bruce’s comment on how the CBS page for the Mentalist still says “watch full episodes” is valid, given how long ago this happened. Maybe it means CBS is hopeful things with WBT will work out soon. We can only hope…
February 10, 2009 at 1:59 pm
[...] to OnmiVideo, it was actually Warner Brothers Television that was behind the takedown, with CBS committed to [...]
February 11, 2009 at 4:31 am
Same with ‘Life on Mars’ – withdrawn without any explanation. Well, we f… them, when they think they f… us – I download all shows I want from Russian torrents. Well, yeah, they are in Russian, but, hey, that’s my mothertongue (Lucky!) You, guys, start learning Russian, I have a very reasonable rates.
February 19, 2009 at 1:24 pm
I too am quite mad they dont show full episodes of the mentalist I had to go out and forgot ot set my vcr and missed at least 2 or more episodes an would like to catch up and I enjoy watching the show but I guess they don’t need us or the ratings.Poor business practice
February 23, 2009 at 9:41 am
[...] into prominence inside their companies and start arguing for more restraint. We’ll see more removals of TV shows like The Mentalist, more announcements like that from SciFi about postponing Hulu streaming of [...]
March 27, 2009 at 12:49 pm
[...] of online TV shows. The fact that many networks are pulling down some of their top shows (e.g., The Mentalist and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.), and how the ads on these wildly popular shows are not [...]
March 29, 2009 at 11:03 am
[...] episodes disappeared in January from Hulu, and shows like The Mentalist and Big Bang Theory were removed without warning from the CBS web site last fall. Finally, there’s the continuing spat between Hulu and Boxee, with [...]
March 29, 2009 at 11:45 pm
[...] episodes disappeared in January from Hulu, and shows like The Mentalist and Big Bang Theory were removed without warning from the CBS web site last fall. Finally, there’s the continuing spat between Hulu and Boxee, with rights [...]
May 6, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Darn… I was getting to like The Mentalist and The Eleventh Hour… and then CBS pulls Eleventh Hour first and then Mentalist second, from On-line. So I guess that’s the end of that.. no big deal though, there is so much other good stuff to watch on-line.
BTW, the reason I say this is the ‘end’ is, I travel a lot for business during the week, so I catch-up on favorite shows by watching on-line between Friday – Sunday. While I have a DVR, my kids and wife have other viewing priorities over the weekend making that an non-option.
And since all these pea brain execs so favor serial shows to “rope in viewers”, by design, one kind of gets lost after missing an episode or two. Once I get a bit behind with a series, I sort of loose interest…
But, like I said, there’s so much other good stuff on-line to choose from — no sense in loosing any sleep over Network TV’s poor marketing choices.
May 12, 2009 at 11:58 am
Show the shows on the network websites and they can make money showing me their ads. Pull the shows and I’ll bittorrent them and they’ll make no money. It’s up to them.
June 18, 2009 at 8:13 pm
PLEASE return the Mentalist to the 8:00 P.M. time slot
September 30, 2009 at 10:11 pm
CBS has cut their own throat as far as prime time viewing is concerned. On line is the only way I was able to watch one of my favorite shows. (The Mentalist) I can’t receive the CBS digital over the air broadcast and the only anolog CBS station that I do get broadcasts different programming during this time slot.
Because of this, I have deleted CBS from my program guide altogether … just one more lost viewer for CBS!!!!
November 7, 2009 at 9:58 pm
Add my name to the list of viewers who only watch shows online. Over the years, I’ve been removing options from my cable service and today, I only have basic service with DVR. I’m sure many providers like Time Warner would have prefer this to be otherwise (wishing me to keep buying premium cable service), but that’s not reality anymore. Today, I watch most of my shows are online streams. There are still a few things for which cable is better (news, and things like the daily show), but for everything else, online streaming is much better and much more convenient.
I love The Mentalist. I think it’s a great show. But it’s not going to win my time against other great shows out there (Lie to Me anyone?) unless CBS makes it available online.
November 8, 2009 at 9:20 pm
I am living in hell since the great TV digital switch over as I have NO cable and have NO intention of getting it. Plus I’m a Linux person, so my choices with the major networks are very limited indeed. CBS is basically the ONLY network whose shows I can view without a bunch of insanity….and NOW I did miss the last Mentalist episode (way past by bedtime normally and I forgot to record it!) and now it can’t be found…I absolutely HATE all this nonsense! If one entity can find a way to make these shows universally viewable just given that you’ve got a working browser, why can’t they all, and what’s with some things are OK, and not others for online posting! Needless to say, I think all this SUCKS big time!