Comments on: Are Paid Downloads Dead?

By: EMI

EMI — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 23:14:23 +0000

Let me get this straight... people won't pay for streaming downloads (Amazon, Netflix, DVWN, etc...) but they'll pay for it every other which way ie cable, DVDs, VOD, etc.. Complete rubbish!

By: gordonmattey

gordonmattey — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 16:42:15 +0000

Fox thinks people download pirated TV because it is free. Wrong. People download TV for the following reasons;

People don't want to buy something New because they don't know if they will like it or not.
People don't like watching advertising every 7-8 minutes on regular TV. Pirated versions rarely contain ads.
Pirated versions are easily played on many devices - TVs, portable media players, mobile phones.
The TV program is not distributed through regular TV distribution in their country because of distribution windows/deals.
People already [think they] pay for the TV program through their Pay TV subscription. Why should they pay twice?

The problem with Fox's assumption is that it has no strategic meaning. All of the above are nuisance costs to the TV experience. Piracy is an alternative that vapourises the nuisance. Assumptions like this will undoubtedly result in responsive tactics that include publishing free advertising-laden (pre, post, overlay) video online and heavy use of video anti-piracy technology.

Yawnz.

With the music industry, DRM (anti-piracy tech) is irrelevant as it only protects a fraction of the music experience and limits exposure of bands. Revolutionaries like RCRD LBL are giving away music for free. Beyond the listening experience, there is so much more value to be created and captured through the community of passionate fans. Merchandise, sponsorships, concerts, exclusives, books, games, interactive media, the list goes on...

The question Fox and others should be asking is,

What experience can I create beyond and around TV viewing?

It's not easy to solve. It's hard to do the right thing. It's easier to keep doing what you do now. But that's where the money is.

Posted here

By: Matt_

Matt_ — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 01:10:00 +0000

Movies work with subscriptions not pay per view downloads look how many rental ,electronic sell thru bussinesses have failed on the web when they do paid downloads they only ones standing are the subscription based models and even then they are not posting outstanding revenue figures .

The only place downloads will work is on portable devices where the bandwidth is constrained or not available

By: Mark Worden

Mark Worden — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 18:04:58 +0000

Perhaps I’m different than most people, but I’d like to be able to watch ad-supported content AND have the option of buying movies or a favourite series…those ones I know I’ll enjoy coming back to from time to time. My wife and I have only a handful of TV series we enjoy, but currently buy on DVD…MacGyver, Knight Rider, and more currently, Corner Gas. We also have certain movies we enjoy coming back to again and again, especially movies our three kids enjoy as well. Once in a great while I might spend $20 on a DVD that I don’t want to wait for, but often I’ll buy previously-viewed rentals for half the regular price. Watching ad-supported stuff wouldn’t bother me, as long as the ads were family-friendly. Ideally it would be nice to tailor the ads to your particular tastes…fashion, health, automotive, electronics, etc. but I’m probably dreaming. At the end of each movie or episode, it might be nice to be given the chance to download that program. No DRM stuff…I’d like to put the purchased program on my network drive to watch from any PC in the house, and download to my laptop or Pocket PC for viewing anywhere…or burn a DVD for the portable DVD player so the kids can watch it on-the-go. I paid for it, now let me enjoy it the way I want to. I’m not going to purchase separate copies anyway.

There…my $0.02 worth =)

By: Eric Susch

Eric Susch — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 13:28:48 +0000

Personally I want to download something and have it on my hard drive, or on my shelf like a DVD. Why? Because you absolutely cannot depend on the corporations to uphold their end of the bargain. I would never pay for content or even a subscription and keep it all on the companies server. That's just crazy. The company could take it all away tomorrow and there's nothing I could do about it. I want it in my hands so I can control what happens to what I buy.

Also, I think DVD sales are dropping because people are anticipating that Bluray/HD-DVD will make their collection obsolete. They're waiting until it all shakes out, then they will start buying again. At least, that's what I'm doing.

By: Peter

Peter — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:23:42 +0000

The survey for this article should obviously have three options, the third being "Both, but it depends". It's not as simple as "I'll only pay for content" or "I only want ad-supported", the model will depend on the content. Some people will be okay with ads in films, but some will be appalled by the idea of breaks in their full feature, HD resolution movie.

Generally I think people are more accepting of ads when they're watching shorter form content, for example sit-coms, but they should always be given the option.

Preferences will vary and the providers will need to cater for both models.

By: KUT-FU

KUT-FU — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 07:12:14 +0000

[...] Read more… [...]

By: Josef

Josef — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 05:35:37 +0000

I'd pay a buck for an hour show I could watch without a wifi connection (half the time I have to pay for) and spam. Esp if the quality (almost) tv. Most free crap online (that means from an online media co, or a pirate station) looks like...crap.

By: Puritan Backroom | Rob Long

Puritan Backroom | Rob Long — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 04:50:35 +0000

[...] I could be [...]

By: Jon Smirl

Jon Smirl — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 19:20:50 +0000

Would any sane person spend $40,000 to buy music for an iPod that can be lost or broken? Putting the backup burden onto the consumer is never going to work. Why is this so hard for the content people to figure out, put everything on a big server. Let people download all they want ad supported, if you don't like the ads, pay to get rid of them. Once a freely accessible server exists piracy will vanish. People will go to the main server to make sure the media hasn't been tampered with and for better indexing.

Piracy only exists because artificial means (DRM) are being used to create scarcity. Broadcast TV works ad supported, why can't an internet server?