"Survivor" Makes Unprecedented Move! Actually Not

In a silly press release, CBS acts as if Survivor is breaking new ground by making its show available for download. That ignores the fact that numerous other shows did it first, but CBS says it is "an industry first" because, as Les Moonves points out, "Never before has primetime programming been available for a fee on a wholly owned website." Next week, if any other network wants to score an industry first, they can sell their shows on Popsurfing because that will definitely be the first primetime programming available for a fee on a blog.

There's also a curious line in the press release that says, "Customers will be able to view paid-for episodes anytime up to 24 hours from the time they are ordered." If that means people only have 24 hours to watch the episode (presumably once) and then it becomes unusable, that is absurd. If I pay $2 to watch an episode of Survivor, I expect to be able to do it whenever I want and not just once. Finally, all these networks making content available only on this or that site -- and not iTunes -- are fools. If you're going to sell your show, make it available anywhere and everywhere.