Leaks, Ratings, and Stevenbombs: Why would CN leak their own show?
So, I’ve been seeing a lot of discourse surrounding Cartoon Network’s “leak” of the new Stevenbomb through the CN app. Recently, CN announced that these were not leaks at all: they were specifically released early to promote the new episodes through the app. The common dialogue (even among some of the Crewniverse) is that releasing the episodes on the internet early is detrimental to the future of the show. Unfortunately, this analysis is lacking in an understanding of how cable networks use ratings and advertising to support their content and continued existence. To understand why CN released the episodes, there needs to be a basic understanding of how viewership is measured.
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