By Kofi Outlaw

News hit the web recently that HBO will be airing new episodes of the fifth and final season of its acclaimed urban drama THE WIRE using the on-demand service, in advance of their standard broadcast. The premiere episode from the fifth season will appear on HBO’s on-demand playlist on December 31, a full week before it airs on January 6. From there on out, each new episode will appear on the on-demand playlist the day after the previous one is broadcast, until the season ends its ten-episode run to bring the series to a close.

Admittedly this is not a new approach for HBO; the fourth season of THE WIRE also featured episodes available on on-demand before they were broadcast. However, the series’ main hurdle has always been that, despite unequaled praise from critics—who often laud it as the best show on television (it’s my personal favorite,)—it has often performed sub-par in the ratings, despite having a fiercely loyal fan base.

In fact, this upcoming fifth season, which focuses on the role of the media in the perception of urban plight, was largely a gift to fans of the show from HBO, who could have cut their losses with last season’s award-worthy examination of the urban school system, which was robbed of Nielsen ratings due to rampant bootlegging via an Internet leak. Add to that the fact that last-season’s on-demand viewers were never tallied into the Nielsen totals and it quickly becomes apparent that THE WIRE has yet to get the fair shake it deserves. If HBO is again choosing to go with the on-demand approach, one can only assume they’ve found some new and better ways to tally which viewers are tuning in through the service.

Will you be tuning into THE WIRE through on-demand at your convenience, or are you that loyal fan that will be on the couch every Sunday in show of your support? Rant back and speak on it—oh indeed, we would like to know.