Waiting for the Men: why the delay before US shows air in the UK?
Fans of US shows such as Mad Men are asking why they have to endure delays of several months before they are shown in the UK
Sarah Hughes
The Guardian, Monday 7 September 2009
You've seen the snappily shot promos featuring the dapper fedoras to the fore, read about the fancy-dress parties celebrating the launch of the third season and even downloaded your own chain-smoking, hard-drinking avatar. There's just one problem: if you live in the UK you can't legally watch the new episodes of the adland drama Mad Men until early next year.
It's enough to make even the best joke about the delights of delayed gratification seem sour, yet BBC4, which owns the rights to the multi-Emmy-nominated drama, insists that the wait will be worth it. "We wanted to find an appropriate time to make the new series a big event on BBC4," a spokeswoman says. "We only finished transmitting series two in May and because we have some great home-grown drama in the autumn schedule, we decided to hold it until the new year."
Bereft of friends
That's not to say that the technologically savvy can't avoid the maddening wait by downloading episodes. Yet while this method keeps you (illegally) ahead of the game, it also leaves you bereft of friends with whom to discuss the season's twists and turns. And short of storing up your conversations to have them six months down the line or forcing your fellow fans to download along with you, it's hard to see how that will change.
Small wonder, then, that some networks are reducing the gap between broadcasts. After all, if the various film distributors can ensure that blockbuster movies have a global release date to beat piracy, why can't TV networks do the same?
BBC2 screened the last season of Heroes two weeks behind US episodes (although a spokeswoman said that it would not be screening season four until the new year to "give it the best shot in the schedule"), E4 airs episodes of Desperate Housewives in virtual tandem with the US, More4 does the same with Curb Your Enthusiasm and Five, which traditionally has had a lag of more than a season when broadcasting US shows, will air episodes of its new sci-fi drama, Fast Forward, only a week after US transmission.
Five's change of heart follows the appointment of Richard Woolfe, a former director of programmes at Sky, as network controller. Sky, home to cult shows with huge online followings such as Lost and Battlestar Galactica, was the first network to cut the lag in broadcasting US imports across the board.
Dramas as diverse as 24, Lost and Lie to Me are shown as close to their US transmission date as possible in the case of Lost no more than four days after the episode airs in America.
"Our viewers are the sort of people who want to be first with new episodes and we cater to that," says Sarah Wright, Sky's head of acquisitions. "It's not always easy because of the way in which US shows can take breaks during the season, but we think that our viewers would rather have a break from the show for a couple of weeks than have to wait for six months before they can see it."
Sky's decision is also driven, in part, by the issue of spoilers: shows such as Lost build their reputation on the plot's labyrinthine twists and turns. Similarly, Mad Men's creator, Matthew Weiner, runs a notoriously tight ship before the show's US third season launch, all fans really knew was it was set in 1963, and that lack of prior knowledge added to their enjoyment.
Yet it is nearly impossible for UK fans to avoid spoilers, such is the proliferation of live blogs, fan websites, recap and gossip sites.
First dibs
Not that the BBC is alone in this problem. When Channel 4 bought the buzzed-about vampire drama True Blood, it was part of a deal that ensured the cable channel FX got first dibs at showing the series. FX is currently halfway through series one of the show, which comes to Channel 4 later this year in the US they are preparing for series two's bloody climax.
Gill Hay, C4's head of acquisitions, admits that the decision to wait was driven by a number of factors, including scheduling demands and the distribution deal with FX. C4 also frequently leaves a long gap before showing US shows to avoid gaps in screening, Hay says.
"Generally we do delay the transmission date so as to get a clean run of the season," she says. "British audiences really don't like shows going on hiatus in the way they do in the US. We get a lot of complaints."
Yet it would take the willpower of Gossip Girl's queen bee Blair Waldorf to avoid the spoilers spewing out of the US on a daily basis. Shows such as Gossip Girl are a paparazzi mainstay in America and pictures of the cast filming the third season (which starts in two weeks) accompanied by juicy plot titbits are drip-fed to the media every day. This week alone we've learned about gay kisses and Machiavellian plot twists but the new season won't begin on ITV2 until 2010.
Complicated distribution deals, the high chances of a fickle US network pulling the plug on a show mid-season and the UK channels' desire to ensure showcase dramas for autumn and spring make it unlikely that everyone will be following Sky's example and dispensing with the US/UK lag for all their shows any time soon. Which means that those of us who are dying to see what Don, Peggy and the gang did next will just have to pour ourselves a large martini and wait.
Their site doesn't have a date even though it's two weeks away.
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