Is Fox's "24" a clue about the future of the DVD/TV equation?

Did you watch the premier of "24" last week? The question is - did you watch the whole thing?

Probably not.

Because Fox pumped out four episodes (Four Hours!) of the premier on Sunday and Monday nights back to back. And the odds are that even the most passionate fans who have Tivo didn't grab all of it. I missed Hour 1 because my Time Warner Cable box decided to shut itself off. Ouch.

Which raises the question - why would Fox burn so much programming and hype over a two day period. Couldn't they have gotten more bang for their buck if they'd played it over four weeks?

The answers is, Fox made a decision that they wanted to feed more TV than the average consumer could manage. Why?

Well, if you watched the very end of hour 4, then you saw the offer to buy the DVD of the first four hours - TOMORROW! -

Wow.

For the first time, TV is now a promotional vehicle for DVD. Mark Cuban's single day and date releasing prophesy comes true. The TV hype drives interest in the DVD, and the programming makes it almost impossible for people to keep up with "24" without buying the DVD.

So, what did I do - having missed hour 1? I went on the web. Watched the prequel trailer. and read the notes from Television Without Pity. I didn't buy the DVD. But, hmm... maybe i will.

I haven't seen the sales #'s yet, and it may be that folks won't flood the stores for a 4 episode set of DVD's, but the die is cast. TV sells DVD. Just as theatrical sells DVD.

And that means that the shift from Broad to Niche-casting continues.