Absentia season 1: Our ideal US airing structure for Stana Katic series

Let’s be honest: Things have been a little quiet on the Absentia front for a while. There isn’t much news to report, and we haven’t even had any official teasers to extrapolate for a little while. We took a break to cover San Diego Comic-Con, and with things still bubbling underneath the surface, we thought that this would be the best chance to pretend to be a studio executive for a few paragraphs.

Over the past few months, we’ve talked a lot about potential US network homes for the Sony-produced series starring Stana Katic and Patrick Heusinger. There are of course a wide array of different options out there, and we have to imagine that there are many interested parties to boot. Who doesn’t want to pick up a quality show with a well-known star and a great cast, especially since its already been made and would be far less expensive than making a new show from the ground up? We’re honestly surprised at this point that there isn’t an announcement yet, but these things can take time and sometimes, patience does pay off.

With that all said, what’s the best-case scenario for Absentia? Using some of the information that we’ve written about in the past, let’s try to map that out. If we were working at Sony, this is absolutely what we’d hope for.

Network Partner – TNT. We know that there are some other good potential cable homes out there, whether it be a USA, an AMC, or an FX. We just think that this network is the best possible fit. Absentia can be reasonably edgy in terms of content here, and there is an established Stana fan following present thanks to Castle repeats airing over the past several years.

We should add in here for a moment that an interesting second option, and one that is a major network, could be NBC — they presumably still have an open spot on their fall schedule Fridays at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, and this would be a perfect compliment to Blindspot. That’s something we will be discussing further in a feature later this week, provided that there isn’t a whole lot of news on the subject by then. Keep your eyes peeled.

Streaming Partner – Netflix. This is a no-brainer. Sony’s got a good arrangement with them, as many of their series from Breaking Bad to The Blacklist have benefited from streaming deals there. To us, it makes perfect sense to give Absentia first-run rights to a cable network, and then monetize it further with a nice streaming deal. What this does is cover multiple bases, that way if the show’s successful internationally and is picked up for a second season, it’s got multiple avenues for itself here in America. We do think that it’d generate good ratings for TNT or any other network, but having a streaming home serves as a nice back-up plan for a potential season 2 in the event it doesn’t work on-air for whatever reason.

Netflix is the premier streaming partner in our mind — they’ve got the biggest viewership, the best interface, and the best chance of recruiting new viewers.

What’s your ideal situation for Absentia?

Sound off in the comments! Also, be sure to check out further updates on the show, and be sure to stay tuned for some additional insight. (Photo: Sony.)