Earlier in the month, I wrote about the six shows I watch. Based on a number of positive reviews and a premise I dig, I decided to take the plunge and watch a new series last night. I tuned into "Weeds", airing on Showcase here in Canada.
I really liked what I saw and I'll be back for more next Wednesday. Today, I decided to visit the official show site to see if they have interesting supplementary information. The official "Six Feet Under" page from HBO was ideal for this purpose, giving great detail regarding the songs that were played, posting detailed obituaries for those who died in the episode and including video clips. Showtime, the creators of "Weeds", won't even let me see the "Weeds" home page. The official "Weeds" page on Showtime's web site displays the following message when I visit it: "We at Showtime Online express our apologies; however, these pages are intended for access only from within the United States."
What exactly is Showtime afraid of? Are they trying to preserve bandwidth by saving it for potential subscribers only? What about those of us watching their programs on other stations? Isn't there a benefit to providing this extra content to those outside the United States when their shows become available on DVD? Restricting the home page for a television show to those who live in one country makes absolutely no sense to me and directly contradicts the borderless spirit of the world wide web.
Shame on Showtime.
