Big TV is close to clueless when it comes to combating piracy. There have been some steps in the right direction. Hulu looks like it might actually end up with some limited appeal, and CBS and ABC are heading in the right direction with their respective online offerings (HD shut down aside). However big TV still really doesn’t get it: BitTorrent continues to thrive like it never has before, dishing up the latest and greatest of American television to an ever increasing audience. Here’s a few tips the American television networks need to absorb
1: It’s all about choice
NBC and Fox, Hulu may have opened with reasonable reviews but it’s still a train wreck when it comes to combating piracy. Where do we start? No downloads for one. People want to take their media with them, and be able to play it on devices such as the iPod. Apple may not have been paying you what you wanted NBC, but its a lot more than the hundreds of thousands, perhaps even millions of folks downloading your shows off BitTorrent are paying you, some of who were previously paying iTunes customers. Big TV needs to provide their shows in a variety of formats to suit as many people as possible..which really isn’t that hard.
2. Imposed geographic restrictions no longer work
If Hulu is in part about combating privacy by providing a legal, ad supported alternative, why does it block anyone from outside of the United States (and possibly Canada) from playing the content? It’s all about international distribution deals, the crappy deals that mean that viewers in Europe and Australasia can sometimes wait 2-3 years to view content broadcast in the United States. This delay is the reason 59% of the French watch television on their computers. You want to dramatically reduce piracy? Then open up your content to the world. The international content partners will not be happy with this, but pay them a cut of the advertising, in the same way Fox is already doing with affiliate stations within the United States. Like NBC and iTunes, the opportunity cost of not providing this service is zero revenue in an international context with direct views, and declining revenue over the longer term as non-American audiences watch less and less American television via FTA or cable. Take what you can and provide a legal alternative to your international viewers. People are willing to deal with advertising for a legal alternative when the legal alternative is available and it is easy to access..particularly when it’s easier than illegal alternatives.
3. Always On, Always Available
New episodes on Hulu will be available to view for 5 weeks, and not a day more. WTF? What if a consumer hears positive word of mouth 6 weeks after a series has started and wants to watch from the beginning. In NBC’s case no iTunes, no Hulu but yes, it will be on BitTorrent. Memo to big TV: let your consumers decide how long TV shows should be available as opposed to imposing arbitrary restrictions. You’re selling advertising based on views, what difference does it make if the show is available for 6 months instead of 6 weeks, aside from your DVD DRM infested show season sales…which is really what this is about.
4. Stop treating your audience as if it were stupid
Your audience is increasingly turning to alternatives because of your restrictive practices, and because of the quality of what you are producing. What’s the latest shows in development: Law & Order Special Parking Infringement Unit and CSI: Timbuktu? People are downloading more and more international content because of the complete garbage you now make. If you seriously want to win the hearts and minds of the switched on generation, you need to follow the first three points above, then start producing some decent content as well.
Personally I’m quite happy with things the way they are. Let all the mugs download the low quality, DRM infected garbage from Crapple’s iTunes, or sit in front of their computers watching a truckload of adverts on Hulu. These are the people that will keep the content companies in business (as well as the spammers, scammers and bot herders). Meanwhile I can download a mountain of high quality content (with all the crappy adverts removed), and watch it in the comfort of my lounge on my nice new plasma panel …. lovely.
@Dheeraj Sultanian
“I have personally never gotten anything of value from bittorrent”
Well then it is clear that you don’t know how to use it, or where to look for content. What did you do, install a torrent client and then expect it to read your mind and download your desired content automatically?
@AnonTroll
“I finally installed uTorrent last week and had to open up ports in my router and local PC firewall”
Actually you didn’t. uTorrent supports Universal Plug and Play which (as you should know) is a feature available on nearly all modern routers and deals with the router firewall problem automatically. This makes things easy for “Joe Public”.
As for the PC software firewall, if they are clued up enough to have one then they will be clued up enough to allow a torrent client. I.e. When the prompt pops up saying “uTorrent.exe is trying to access the internet” all one has to do is click the “Allow” button. We are not talking “rocket science”, my cat could do it.
@S
“All of these restrictions are designed to protect MASSIVE revenue streams”
Errrr, yeah. Do you really think we give a sh*t?
Please remember. Bittorrent clients are getting easier to use. Content is getting easier to find. Broadband is getting faster and cheaper every year. More and more members of the public are getting PIG SICK of corporate greed and joke copyright laws. Also it is now common knowledge that the risk of getting caught is less than the risk of getting stuck by lightning (even if you don’t take any precautions). Thus, the “MASSIVE revenue streams” will continue to shrink year on year.
So ….. Here is a message for all you cigar chomping Fat Cats sitting behind your big desks. You need to wake up and realise that you are no longer the ones in control. There are lots of us who are happy to pay, but only for things that we want. All your attempts to bully us into paying for things we don’t want will fail.
When it comes to media ….. We want it as soon as it is released, in our format of choice, at decent level of quality and without DRM, and if you won’t sell it to us then we will get it from someone else. I’m sorry if you don’t like it, but that’s the way it is. If you want to stop producing content then that’s fine. I’m sure that there are plenty of savvy, less greedy business people who would be willing to “step up to the plate” and become very rich by delivering the desired product.
End of message.
Great piece. Just one issue: CSI Timbuktu would definitely be the first CSI that I’d really want to watch. Go for it, BiG TV!
Duncan:
They’ll catch on when they go out of business; “they” being the slow-dying dinosaurs known as the networks that once were in the land before time. I cross-posted on your piece to http://blog.inn...ors-network.org The Innovators Network is a non-profit dedicated to bringing technology to startups, small businesses, non-profits, venture capitalists and intellectual property experts. Please visit us and help grow our community!
Best wishes for continued success,
Anthony Kuhn
Innovators Network