"Gossip Girl" Pulled Offline For Being TOO Successful

The CW network is taking aim at an unlikely competitive threat: its own Web site. The network said Thursday that episodes of its series "Gossip Girl" will not be streamed on CWTV.com when "Gossip" returns Monday with original episodes through season's end. The first 12 episodes of the season, which will remain on the site, were made available free to viewers about a week after their original airdate. The CW is trying to avoid being a victim of its own success: "Gossip" has proved to be a big draw online (http://www.CWTV.com), with each episode said to be generating hundreds of thousands of streams. Episodes routinely rank among the most downloaded on iTunes, which also will continue to offer new episodes. CW is taking the counterintuitive step of limiting "Gossip" to test whether its online window is cannibalizing the TV audience. (link)