TV network heads — dating back to at least Jeff Zucker’s tenure as president of NBC West Coast Entertainment in 2000-04 — have long wanted to rid themselves of an onerous pilot process that increasingly makes no sense in a TV environment where things like fall preview week, sweeps and mid-season are becoming irrelevant.

Now it finally looks like the long-entrenched system is crumbling, and that’s partly because of the success Netflix has had success ordering entire series — such as “House of Cards” and “Orange is the New Black” — and putting them up on its service in their entirety.

Dumping the pilot process is not a new concept. Cable networks have been known to place entire first-season orders without seeing a pilot, and this season alone CBS ordered “Under the Dome,” and NBC ordered “The Michael J. Fox Show” to 13 and 22 episodes, respectively, without first seeing a pilot, and those aren’t the only examples. Still, picking up a show without first seeing a pilot remains the exception, not the rule.

Finally, though, the model is changing. Vulture’s Josef Adalian provides plenty of insight into what’s up here.

Brief Take: The TV industry and how people consume content is radically changing. The old ways of doing business must adapt as well.

Image courtesy of Vulture

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