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PBS Announces Season 2 of Downton Abbey in HD as iTunes Pass for $19.99

Downton Abbey resumes the story of aristocrats and servants in the tumultuous World War I era. The miniseries is written by Julian Fellowes and stars Dame Maggie Smith, Elizabeth McGovern, Hugh Bonneville, and a drawing room full of new actors, portraying the loves, feuds, and sacrifices of a glittering culture thrown into crisis.

Many of my colleagues in Public Media worry that selling content on iTunes will keep people from watching local PBS stations.

I believe that we need to share our content in the way people want to watch it. In the long run, our problem will not be how to keep people watching broadcast television. Rather, our challenge will be making our brand and content relevant in the minds of the American people.

And…people who will pay $19.99 for Downton Abbey on iTunes, weren’t going to watch it on their local station anyway.

I agree with Shane’s insights in regards to the fact that we should provide content to the viewers where the viewer wants it. And his insights on our brand across those new platforms is spot on; albeit one that we’re still struggling with even in broadcast.

My issue is; how do we measure success on these new forms of distribution? In broadcast we have Neilson ratings, which have long been a questionable form of measurement, but nonetheless they are the standard. I don’t think sales can be our new form of success because deals we have in place with the show producers, iTunes, other networks, etc prevent us from making any type of sizable profit. Perhaps download count? Hmmm…

So, I ask the question, in this new world of online distribution where you can watch what you want, how you want it - How do we measure success?

Source: shaneguiter