The global watercooler
Sorry about the picture quality, but I grabbed this image quickly. I was in Surry Hills, Sydney, Australia. A streetcar is went by and with an advertisement for The Walking Dead. Underneath the title of the show, the poster reads “Same day as the U.S.”
The value proposition here is that viewers can be part of the global conversation, taking place on social media. If you can’t see episodes of a popular show until days or weeks or months later (as has been the case for secondary markets) then you missed out on the party and it’s already spoiled.
Granted, with global time zones, this is not a fully synchronousexperience (but then neither is viewing in the U.S., with a three-hour breadth), but this is a fascinating sign of the times and more evidence that Water Cooler TV is still important.