There's already legal and illegal online distribution at high quality. (I know, I looked) The pirated copies are done, and the ink's dry for DVDs. Who the fuck cares about TV reruns unless you're from the stone age?
The advertisers, who pay the networks' bills, who, in turn, commission content and distribute it. Boycotts happen and shows are cancelled or simply never produced as a result. Hosting companies are required to delete 'offensive' or 'illegal' files. Follow the money; always follow the money.
I'm not saying that there will be a grand backlash. Frankly this is too small fry to provoke something like that (this isn't exactly a prime-time show watched by hundreds of millions, after all). What I
am saying, and have been saying from the start, is that it is too early and there are too many distractions to judge the long-term reaction to this particularly gutsy artistic decision on the part of Bryan and Mike (and I did like
Bryan's blog post - he made a very good artistic justification that neatly disarmed all the political arguments).
There is
always push-back to things like this but it's too early to say what form that this will take.
