I feel like I'm among the only people on the planet who hasn't seen season 3 yet, and I likely am. Why? The local affiliate W.N.E.D Buffalo has decided not to show this season at the same time as their PBS counterparts following Downton Abbey.
Their explanation on the surface makes sense. It's a matter of demographics; theirs are showing people don't watch much programming under their station after 11pm. So it's a little hard to show three two-hour episodes from 10pm-12am. To accommodate their demographics, they've chosen to push Sherlock to February 13 (Thursday) in order to air it a 9pm- the hour earlier. They want to air it together following the first two seasons.
Apparently when the BBC Canada aired it first the last time, W.N.E.D really suffered in the ratings. They'll suffer again with this decision as well. They're airing it two days after it comes out on DVD, and well after any streaming service will have gotten a hold of it. It's already available on streaming sites; X-Box (access the video app on your Windows 8 computer), iTunes, and I'm sure Netflix will have it by then too. And not to mention the spoilers available online, which I'm sure people read- it's impossible to avoid on twitter. It's ridiculous to delay showing it.
And then there's the false advertising. PBS has advertised it up, down and sideways; and I along with many others bought into the hype. The ads led me to believe it would be airing on WNED no matter what. I thought; Sherlock airing at 10pm following Downton Abbey; the makings of a great night of television, and a ratings winner. No such luck...
I hate it when stations do that. Would it have killed the folks at W.N.E.D. to add the line: "Check local listings" onto their commercial for Sherlock? Or perhaps to move Downton to an 8pm time slot, and then showed Sherlock? All they air is then is the previous week's episode of Downton it wouldn't be that big of a loss. Or keep it on the Thursday, and only re-air the second season. That's the one that counts because it directly leads into series three. Show the new episodes the Thursday before each Sunday episode.
50% of W.N.E.D's audience is found in Southern Ontario, and I'd estimate that in the area of 3-5 million people. That's some pretty big ratings PBS is missing thanks to this decision. And I'm sure a few people are as irritated as I am, which could translate into lost membership opportunities.
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