Anti-Piracy Boss: TV Fans Are Unreasonable For Wanting Content Quicker
torrentfreak.com
torrentfreak.com
They ask the 'right' questions such as "what is it that sucks about piracy", and "how do we make our service fill that hole?" Similarly, the question Valve asked (and answered brilliantly) was "how do we make our service more convenient than piracy?"
I found it to be an interesting contrast to these old media behemoths that view piracy as something wholly different than user experience/convenience. The customers want fast access to content. Piracy is currently the only way to achieve that with a lot of the media owned by these aging corporations.
Pretty strange.
Of course it will. But this is like arguing that crime will never hit 0%, so why bother trying?
Found it http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0308208/
I think this says a lot about how the internet has changed society. Waiting one week is not a big deal. There used to big release gaps between countries when movies were released in the cinema. Sure it sucked but life went on. I know that many people don't think piracy constitutes theft (although it sounds like these people would have paid, so it is a lost sale), but having to wait one week should not be justification for pirating content.
A lot of money is put into making a show like Game Of Thrones. The £1.89 iTunes charges per episode would not be enough to cover the budget and I believe that's why this staggered roll out happens (deals with TV companies are more lucrative). If the episodes were priced higher (say £4.99) but released immediately I don't think very many people would pay.
The internet seems to be fostering an attitude of "We want it now, and we want it free or very cheap".
I think it's going to be very hard to ever find that sweet spot where people are happy with what the content company can viably offer, and they won't pirate.
Edit: I think this article explains my first point well. http://ihnatko.com/2012/02/20/heavy-hangs-the-bandwidth-that...
The ship has sailed for staggered releases in any sense. Once something is shown to the public, it can be safely assumed that the whole internet has access to it. Might as well try to get some money out of it.
It is when the show in question is Game of Thrones, a story which revolves greatly around plot twists which could easily be spoiled if you're forced to wait longer than others to watch it. I already find I have to carefully moderate my online activity on a Monday before I can watch Game of Thrones in the UK, and we only have to wait one day!
But you're right, it is very difficult.
I think it comes down to: You want to be a part of the culture. Go online and talk when everyone else is excited. Get excited with the fans at the same. It fosters a sense of community that is rewarding, something many watchers love to participate in.
It sucks when you get content a week or a month or six months later, and 90% of the fanbase is WAY past you, not interested in talking, not ranting and raving any more.
For many people, good TV and culture is social, regardless of whether or not the old industries can see it happening in front of their eyes.
This is the crux of it, and why HBO et al are just completely behind the times. How people consume entertainment has changed drastically and pretending otherwise simply won't cut it any more. The good news is that all these people with outdated concepts will eventually retire or be overtaken by newer businesses that ‘get it’, but the transition is going to suck (in a first-world-problem kind of way).
I don't get the problem with spoilers anyway -- there was a research somewhere indicating that spoilers enhance experience, not spoil it, even for people who don't like spoilers.
My friends used to give each other complete plot summary for interesting books or movies. How else would you know if a book or movie is worth reading or watching?