Leveraging the legacy of Hitchcock’s Psycho, A&E wanted to convey that the series was not a conventional prequel. It decided that the key to the marketing campaign is to get viewers to “Take-a-Peek” combining its creepy 12 Rooms website with other similarly themed advertising and materials. At Comic-Con, A&E created an elaborate exhibit featuring a replica of one of the bedrooms at the Bates Motel, allowing fans to set up their own creepy photo shoots. It all worked: the series premiere scored 3 million total viewers and 1.6 million in both 18-49 and 25-54, making “Bates Motel” the #1 original drama series debut ever on A&E in both demos.

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Next Frontier: CableLabs Explores More than Speed Connectivity Era

Internet speed records are all the rage these days, with two separate breakthroughs making the headlines recently. One is more in the distant future, but the other hits closer to home.

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