neadods | US Airdates, personal spoiler policy, PBS & BBC

PBS will start airing Sherlock S2 on May 6.

In this journal, I'm going to stop shielding the 4-letter acronyms of the second two episodes Monday (the 23rd), on the basis that everyone who wants to *cough* obtain the episodes has had a chance to. I will mark fic recs and posts for spoilers as necessary until Labor Day (May 28), the week after PBS will have finished its run. Hide or follow my Sherlock tag as necessary. (I'm probably also going to start a "holmesverse" tag for essays like yesterday's on Mary, too.)

Also, a note? I've heard people bitching about PBS showing it after such a long delay, presumably because they've been spoiled by BBCA showing Dr. Who within hours of its British airing. However, that ignores three pertinent facts why PBS is a much better broadcaster for Sherlock in the US:

1) BBCA is a branch of BBC; the only revenue it's bringing in is ad revenue. PBS is unaffiliated and has to buy the shows - which is more $$$ coming back to the BBC.

2) BBCA is a cable station available in only some markets, sometimes only in the "extras" package. PBS is an open network available to everyone with a TV. Bigger audience = more attention = more interest in the show (plus more pressure to buy the next season. See #1)

3) Airing on an American broadcaster makes the show elegible for some American awards. As I personally think it and its actors deserve ALL THE AWARDS (capslock and all) this can't be a bad thing. Besides, this also brings in more attention, etc.

Tempting as it is to snag the R2 DVD set (available in 2 weeks in the UK), I'm going to hold on to the May release of the R1 version so that I can vote with my dollars to let PBS know to keep the show coming here.

Also, speaking of Americans supporting BBC,

penfold_x pointed me at an interesting thing. Audio Go is the BBC's audio branch; loads of lovely legal downloads. And it turns out that even after you tell the website that you have a billing address in the States, you can still click the "Shop in the UK" button and have all sorts of otherwise unavailable material suddenly become purchasable. I'm talking stuff that isn't even on CD, so you can't pick it up at conventions/Waterstones/Amazon.co.uk. Cabin Pressure. Ninth Doctor audiobook adaptations. It's ear-candyland.

Y'all, we may not have a license fee, but we need to support the BBC too.

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1) BBCA is a branch of BBC; the only revenue it's bringing in is ad revenue. PBS is unaffiliated and has to buy the shows - which is more $$$ coming back to the BBC.

PBS isn't just buying the show, they're co-funding the show through a co-production deal through WGBH and Masterpiece. The fans I've seen on Twitter getting annoyed with BBC America for not showing Sherlock same day simply don't understand that it's not BBC America's to broadcast.

2) BBCA is a cable station available in only some markets, sometimes only in the "extras" package. PBS is an open network available to everyone with a TV. Bigger audience = more attention = more interest in the show (plus more pressure to buy the next season. See #1)

Exactly. Downton Abbey is pulling in twice the viewers on PBS that Doctor Who pulls on BBC America.

PBS isn't just buying the show, they're co-funding the show through a co-production deal through WGBH and Masterpiece.

I did not know that.

Sorry, I wasn't trying to be — and didn't mean to come across as — a snarky know-it-all. :)

Here's a report from the original press release from about a year and a half ago announcing the partnership. Sherlock, Upstairs Downstairs, and Aurelio Zen were all cofunded by Masterpiece. (Aurelio Zen's coproduction deal involved something like six companies in five countries.)

De nada. I must have spaced the original announcement, and knowing about the funding only strengthens my argument.

simply don't understand that it's not BBC America's to broadcast.

This. And while BBC Worldwide (which operates BBCA) is a subsidiary of the BBC, it doesn't mean they can throw all Beeb programming to it willy-nilly. (Just ask the people still dealing with the Fox/Fox Kids licensing headaches with X-Men.)

It's a separate entity for most intents and purposes. Which is why, for example, it's coproducing (as a separate source of funding) S4 of Being Human. (Which we're still not going to get same-day. The Who arrangement remains unique.) Also why it can run ITV shows like Primeval and Bedlam.

1a. Masterpiece is now divided into three seasons with the Mystery season during the summer. I could see PBS or Masterpiece or WGBH or whomever sets the schedule switching things around, but not this year. I suspect they set the schedule all at once.

2a. Cablevision recently picked up BBCAmerica after many years of not carrying it, I suspect because they had a lot of demand once Doctor Who shifted over there. If you don't get BBC America on your cable/satellite service, it can't hurt to ask.

Other notes: I hope you mean Memorial Day and not Labor Day. ;) Also, the library where I work has a lovely rep for AudioGo, who has been wonderful to us (at our first meeting I mentioned that I hadn't been able to get Swallows and Amazons because it hadn't been published here, he found a copy (I suspect the British edition) and sent it to us free of charge) so I heartily endorse them. I did not realize they did downloads, though. *wanders over to take a look*

If you don't get BBC America on your cable/satellite service, it can't hurt to ask

It never hurts to ask, but PBS is still going to have a broader range simply because it's not a cable show.

Ooops, I do mean Memorial Day!

The S2 DVD is scheduled to be released in the UK on the 23rd, but they've started shipping the pre-orders already -- mine is scheduled to arrive at my cousin's flat tomorrow! (So glad they sell mostly multi-region players here --so much easier to get the DVDs you want.) V. excited. :D

And yes, AudioGo has got amazing stuff. I use US prices because the exchange rate is more favorable than that of the pound, but I haven't run into any availability problems. So far, anyway.

Edited 2012-01-19 16:23 (UTC)

I didn't see either Stealers of Dreams or Winner Takes All (my favorite Nine audiobooks) on the US side, and I don't think it has as much of Cabin Pressure. I haven't had a chance to really run barefoot through the downloads, but those two I was targeting.

I really wish CP was on CD, but alas.

I would be more than happy to support the BBC if they'd simply put the damned episodes up on iTunes 24 hours after airing in Britain, as they did for many of the Doctor Who eps.

I'm willing to support them because they create/provide the shows *at all.*

I didn't make that clear. I'd be happy to pay the fee to them for the privilege of seeing the episode well ahead of the PBS date. As opposed to various nefarious methods of acquisition.

Oh, I've obtained the episodes. But try finding time to watch them when you're working two jobs. And when you do have TV time, trying to keep your DVR from exploding. I'm amazed I saw the first two at all.

Thanks for passing along the Audio Go info, I'll be checking that out!

Ear-candyland AT VERY REASONABLE PRICES, TOO!!!

For real. I couldn't believe how inexpensive Cabin Pressure was. I enjoy voting with my dollars for more of the stuff I like.

I know!

I love your Sherlock posts, and your Doctor Who posts and so on. It's good to point the BBC/PBS thing out to people who may not be aware. Most people aren't foaming at the mouth over Sherlock in the States; PBS will give the show the steady base it deserves over here. (Although I, for one, will continue to foam at the mouth for Sherlock.)

Although I, for one, will continue to foam at the mouth for Sherlock

I wouldn't say I foam so much as drool... :D

US Airdates, personal spoiler policy, PBS & BBC

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