You can already find TV shows on the net, via various P2P softwares. But most are stripped of ads, which is detrimental to cable networks.
Why not have the cable networks put their shows on the web (including the ads)?
The idea is that most users would go to the networks website to download the show (using, say, BitTorrent), rather than look for a ad-less version.These could also be downloaded from Tivo and other network-enabled PVRs.
One important thing is that when users get used to doing this, it will be difficult to cancel the offer (more users would end up downloading illegal versions of the content).
Some open questions:
- should the download be free or tied to a channel/cable subscription?
- how to have the majority of users download the official versions rather than the ad-stripped versions? Should there be simple DRM (you can copy, but you can't modify the file or skip ads)?
- would it help to pollute the illegal networks with low quality versions of the same content (the end scene is missing, the sound goes bad in the middle of a scene,...)?
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First of most of the content on file sharing networks is illegally there, the broadcasters and other rights holders lose money because it is there, ads or not.
Second off, if the broadcasters put their shows on the web, people wouldn't subscribe to cable, or watch their local affiliates to get those programs.
What some cable channels do is have added material not broadcast on the cable channel available on their website.
The root of this issue is the government-enforced copyright system itself. There is a better way!
http://betterdifferent.com/copyright
classicsat,I understand that the content that is currently available is illegaly there, and that they may harm the model of cable networks. The question is how can they fight this, and maybe the answer is they can embrace it rather than resist it, but turning it to their advantage.
I disagree that having shows on the web automatically means that people wouldn't subscribe to the cable or content producers would lose money. Maybe the shows are only available to people who have paid a little extra on their cable bill (to activate this option). Maybe the ads are enough to finance the show.
If I understand correctly, in the cable buisness you have the content producers (that own the show) and the broadcasters (that own the cable itself). The content producers are free to evaluate an alternate distribution method, like on-demand via cable or via cable-internet... Why not?
I just read in "Data Smog : Surviving the Information Glut" (by David Shenk) that TV networks make 39 cents per prime time hour per user. This is pretty cheap (which is why there is so many bad ads...).It seems that TV networks could "air" shows over the internet (on-demand download) using different models:- have users pay 50 cents for an ad-free show, using something like BitTorrent (to keep the server/bandwidth costs down),- have the users pay 20 cents for the download fee, but keep the ads in (with richer functionality like opening web pages for example).
I haven't been able to find confirmation of the 39 cents number. Let me know if you have any pointers.Also, there is the question of how much an internet user would be ready to pay and what quality of service could be offered for 10-20 cents?
BBC is going to make some of its program available on the internet (using a P2P media player) in a beta program:http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/001963.php
I certainly want this kind of content via the web. Starz is offering it now in a simple model. Pay $12/month for access (VOD) to the movies they are offering via cable or Dish. They are treating web as just another delivery system.
CNN and ABC presently offer access to some of their news content at about $5/month. MSNBC and CBS offer access to some of their content free. I get access to ABC content as part of my service from SBCYahoo. Nightline is reliably there a day after it airs.
Yahoo has run surveys that show an interest in expanding these offerings. Akimbo is about to market a device that will make it easy to get video files from the internet to your TV. They also offer content, but it does not look very attractive to me. Netflix plans to offer a video download service to complement (and eventually replace) its present DVD by mail service.
I think the pot is about to boil on this. People are already testing the market and figuring the sales model. If you want to keep up-to-date, listen to kenradio.com.
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