No decision has been made as to Jericho’s fate, but the fans (of which I am one) have decided they’re not going to wait for CBS to decide to start the push to save it. Given that only three episodes remain, by the time CBS does decide, it could be too late to turn the boat around. The show’s creators made two separate endings for the seventh episode; one wraps up the season, while the other wraps up the series.

If the series-ending episode airs, there’s still a bit of wiggle room, but it’ll be far easier to sell the series to another network (SciFi, perhaps?) if the season-ending episode airs.

So, anyway, I wanted to share the highlights of the efforts to make CBS recognize the nontraditional viewers and count them same as they count the Nielsen ratings.

For those who haven’t seen it, check out my open letter to CBS from the weekend. The most important part? It links to Schumi’s excellent letter, which inspired mine.

Next, here’s an excellent video to get you pumped up to save Jericho.

Then, our dear kricka made a whole new series of motivators to get everyone pumped. (And she’s spreading the motivator-making knowledge; Margie created the motivator above. Notice how Edna’s name is cut off in the photo and Margie’s name comes first in the caption. Accident? I think not.)

On the CBS boards, Gen. Patton has spelled out an excellent series of things the fans can/must do to make their feelings known.

The mailing addresses and phone numbers:

CBS addresses:
51 W. 52nd St., New York, NY 10019
7800 Beverly Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90039
Telephone:
212-975-4321, also -3241, -3245 and -3247
323-575-2345, also -4913 (“comment line”)
Executives:
Les Moonves, President & CEO, CBS Corp.
212-975-4321, lmoonves@cbs.com
Kelly Kahl, Sr. Executive VP of Programming
323-575-2442, kkahl@cbs.com
Nina Tassler, President, CBS Entertainment
323-575-2747, ntassler@cbs.com
CBS audience services: audsvcs@cbs.com

Sci-Fi Channel
Attn: Dave Howe,
30 Rockefeller Center, 21st Floor,
New York, NY 10112

Meanwhile, check out these articles about how viewing habits are changing and what networks and others are doing to figure it all out:

Serving Up Television Without the TV Set — The (Lakeland, Fla.) Ledger.

For a variety of shows, the Web proves valuable as a time machine, permitting users to catch up on missed episodes. The Web site for “Jericho,” a show that was canceled by CBS but revived last year because of Internet-savvy fans, had roughly 1.3 million video views in the first week after the show’s second-season debut on Feb. 12. Less than half of those views were of the premiere episode; the rest were from viewers catching up on the first season or sharing clips.

In addition to tracking the episode views, CBS measures the amount of online conversation happening about shows.

“We’re still midstream,” said Nina Tassler, the president of CBS Entertainment. “We’re still learning about people’s behaviors and we’re still learning about what shows really resonate with an online audience.”

TV networks are trying to get viewers excited about some of the most boring things on the air: reruns.
…
CBS, meanwhile, has run themed trivia questions and behind-the-scenes notes about production on episodes of both “Ghost Whisperer” (where the comments were called “Love Notes”) and “CSI: Miami” (“Bullet Points”).
…
The CBS efforts might seem cut from the same cloth as VH1’s old “Pop-Up Video.” One “Bullet Point” on “CSI: Miami” told viewers that lead actor David Caruso once “appeared in the first installment of ‘Rambo,’ called ‘First Blood,’” while a “Love Note” on “Ghost Whisperer” offered information about where the series is filmed. CBS said a network executive was not available to discuss the episodes.

Whether these efforts will prove sustainable over the long haul remains to be seen. One media buyer said the “enhanced” repeats work best in dramas with complicated plotlines, such as NBC’s “Heroes” or CBS’s “Jericho.” The idea “is good for a core fan,” said Jason Maltby, president and co-executive director of broadcast at WPP Group’s MindShare. “I don’t think it’s going to work for ‘Two and a Half Men.’”

… rather than feel threatened by the internet, the television networks are excited about the traffic. The video streams have single-ad slots about every 10 minutes, far fewer than TV, but still lucrative for the network.

“It is already paying for itself,” Dana McClintock, spokesman for CBS, told me during an interview in early December. “The cost is very small. And the advertisers are very excited about this.”

The networks are not finding that the internet cannibalizes their audience on TV, at least not yet. Jericho, CBS’ post-apocalyptic serial drama, has become a popular clip on YouTube, is available on iTunes, and can be seen free on the web. The multiple means of watching the show has contributed to its success, not undermined its TV ratings, said McClintock.

You can look most anywhere and find debate about Nielsen ratings and Jericho or online viewing and Jericho plus a number of other debates. There’s old media vs. new media, how to save Jericho again, and email vs. snailmail.

It appears to me the bottom line is money. CBS wants to sell ads, advertisers want you to buy their products, and you want Jericho to have Season 3. So, I asked myself why CBS should be embracing new media.

CBS Interactive chief Quincy Smith says he can charge advertisers $20 per thousand views, higher than the rate CBS gets for prime-time television.

Motivator: Image by LisiBee/Edna, motivator by Jane/Margie. Don’t Tread on Me flag courtesy of Radio Free Jericho.