If there’s one TV feature I want above all else, it’s an infinite on-demand catalog. I don’t want five episodes of Burn Notice, or the second season of Weeds, I want to be able to start at the beginning of a show’s run and have access to every episode that’s ever aired. Such a model doesn’t exist today. In fact, Clicker released research this week that shows just how far off we are. Despite the fact that 90% of broadcast TV shows (i.e. shows from the five major free networks) from the 2009-10 season became available online at some point, 60% went offline again within three weeks of airing. Certain shows, like Law & Order and The Mentalist, never made it to the Web at all.
The practice of windowing content is in clear effect here. You can get stuff for free, but only for a limited time. The problem is, so far there’s no good pay service available that completes the package. In theory, Hulu Plus is the answer to the catalog conundrum, but in early tests, Dave has so far been unimpressed. Netflix comes closest for me because there are certain shows available starting from season one, episode one. But the overall options are still woefully limited. The holy grail remains elusive.