Friday Night Lights

Friday Night Lights is in a strange position as it moves into its third season.  The show was renewed due to a deal made between NBC and DirecTV, which allows DirecTV to air all 13 episodes beginning in October.  NBC, on the other hand, won't air the episodes until February.  FNL has never done particularly well in the ratings, and one has to wonder if it will struggle even more due to this new deal.  Will faithful Friday Night Lights fans who don't have DirecTV be willing to wait four extra months to see new episodes?  Will they instead choose to illegally download season 3 online, and if so, will the show's ratings plummet on NBC?  These are all questions fans have to worry about as the new season prepares to launch on October 1.

I'm not sure what most Friday Night Lights fans will do, but nearly everyone I've spoken with plans to download the episodes illegally immediately after they air on DirecTV.  Many fans would be more than happy to shell out some cash to buy the new installments through iTunes, but that likely won't be an option until after they air on NBC.  This puts FNL fans in an awkward position.  They can either subscribe to DirecTV, which is a big undertaking just to see one TV show, or they can befriend someone who already has the service, which would make for a strange relationship.  If these options are impossible, the only other legal choice is to wait four months for the show to air on NBC.  That's a lot to ask of fans who have already been waiting since February for new episodes.

The FNL faithful will have likely seen every episode long before NBC airs them, and then the question becomes just how fanatical they are.  I'm sure many fans will be happy to re-watch all 13 installments when they air on NBC, but many others won't bother.  I expect the ratings for these second-run episodes to take a significant tumble, unless a miracle happens and millions of viewers finally discover the show in its third season.  As wonderful as that would be, it's probably unlikely.

On one hand, I think NBC's deal with DirecTV is fantastic.  It's bringing us 13 new episodes of one of the best shows on television, so of course I can't complain about that.  What worries me is the effect this deal will have on the ratings, and what that means for the future of the series.  Friday Night Lights fans are extremely devoted, but are they devoted enough to watch the entire season twice?  We'll have to wait and see.


- Don Williams, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of NBC)