Because airing grievances on Twitter is what all showrunners do nowadays, here's Steve Levitan. The veteran television producer -- who currently helps run the hit that is Modern Family -- used his Twitter feed this week to tear down not only Hulu, but the entire way television ratings are judged in general. Funny story: he's got a point.
Levitan found himself none-too-pleased in the wake of reports that Hulu is about to become a public IPO that could value the company at $2 billion: "What will the content providers get? Zero," he wrote. "What is Hulu without content? An empty jukebox." Burn.
This sort of narrative isn't new for Levitan. Earlier this month at the TCA panel for Modern Family, he even expressed interest in pulling the series off the web altogether. But lest you think Levitan is just some scrooge trying to keep you from watching Hulu buffer slowly, he just wants what's rightfully his. Namely, the credit for viewership.
To be clear, I value every single one of our viewers, no matter how you watch, I just want you to be counted. [...] That's how we'll ensure the future of quality television. [...] We need a ratings system that counts all viewers on every format: TV, DVR, Hulu, iTunes, iPad Player, network websites, etc."
Which, of course, brings up what will likely be a giant sticking point during the next round of WGA negotiations. As the Post points out, "Nielsen rates live television viewing and catch-up viewing on DVRs, but it won't begin reporting Internet usage as part of its TV panel until February of next year. There's little data available to track mobile viewing, and Apple keeps a tight rein on download data from its iTunes store." In short: Because the Nielsen ratings are antiquated at best, shows could seem as though they're losing millions of viewers since there isn't an accurate way to find out if people are watching... and that will cost writers and producers money in the long term.