When is a TV Show No Longer Just a TV Show?

Having canceled animated series Family Guy prematurely, only to bring it back into production in the wake of outsized DVD sales, Fox is set to make sure its new series produced by Family Guy impresarios Seth MacFarlane and Ricky Blitt gets every opportunity possible to reach its audience – by whatever new-media means are necessary.
That means you’ll be able to watch new Fox series The Winner, starring The Daily Show veteran Rob Corddry, on a dizzying array of distribution platforms – Sunday night prime-time broadcasts, $1.99 iTunes downloads, “on-demand” viewing at the Fox MySpace page and local Web sites for O&O stations, DVDs for sale at Circuit City, and even in-flight viewing on Jet Blue planes. What’s more, you won’t have to wait for the series to air in sequence – four episodes are already available at Familyguy.com. and they’ll go online at fox.com, myspace.com and the local Web sites on Tuesday (February 20). All six episodes in the series will be available as digital downloads from iTunes and other, unnamed “electronic” retailers starting Februry 20, and beginning February 25, a two-episode DVD will be used as a promotional giveaway with certain 20th Century Fox TV DVD purchases at Circuit City.

Only after all this marketing magic takes place does the show actually debut in prime time, on Sunday, March 4. Fox is, presumably, hoping the pre-broadcast foofaraw among early entertainment adopters will generate buzz that will increase viewership of the actual broadcasts. But it’s enough to raise the question: When is a TV show no longer a TV show?