What needs to happen with TV shows on the iTMS

Lo! Fox selling shows on-demand ahead of broadcasts. Looks like we're slowing getting there.

http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20060105-5912.html

Thanks for the mention and noting that we have no odd requirements for subscription to Channel Frederator. New animated shorts; weekly; free. We tried to keep the formula simple... Have a great '06 -

Channel Frederator

I think one thing missing is that the EyeTV 500 can show and record multiple shows at once. Or, didn't I read that press release a month or so ago?

arkowi,

I have a few questions about your set up if you don't mind. What kind of Mac are you using? How long does it take EyeTV to convert an hour show to iPod format? Can you set it up to automatically record a show and then automatically convert it to iPod format and import to iTunes in one night? Or, do you have to record the show one night and then convert it the next?

Thanks

All of those posts have been an interesting read. I think the best thing is to either download off a p2p service for free if you want to avoid overly restrictive DRM or use iTunes to legally download video (as u do for music) - if u don't mind the DRM.

However, the idea of having 2 TV Tuners to record two videos playing at the same time (if its effective I would certainly go for it as long as its also cost effective). I use a Mac and a PC at home (an Apple PowerBook with OS X Panther + QT 7 and iTunes 6.0+) and a PC running Microsoft Windows XP that work fine for me in playing video - use the PC for recording video and Mac for downloading and playing.

I don't mind watching video on an iPod (even if the screen is small provided its not as small as that of the nano) - a slightly bigger screen but one not too big would be good. However, watching movies on an iPod would probably not be that enjoyable.

The entertainment industry is centered on profit. It is, after all, a business first and foremost. If downloadable content makes sense on an ROI-basis, it'll be done, regardless of who may be hurt in the process (advertisers, etc).

But, those who control the content have to work with those who control the distribution, and the industry is very slow to change. There is a lot of fear in this industry. Almost everyone is ignorant to the technology side of things and very few people are willing to stick their necks out.

iTMS moving into the video end is seen as an experament by the industry. Everyone's waiting to see how it goes.

For fun, we can take a look at the numbers. The average show has an average lisencing fee of $500k per episode. Most episodes cost more than that to produce, so producers make their profits from ancillary markets -- DVD sales, syndication, merchandising, etc.

Networks make their profits from advertising, but the typical producer only gets a piece of that if they're well-established enough in the industry to get that into their contract with the network.

If there's enough demand for downloaded episodes, say 500,000 to 1 mil people willing to d/l an episode, that's an extra $250k-$500k in the producer's coffers (after paying Apple, etc) and then they have to pay out residual fees to everyone else. So, the producer's actual take could be quite small right now and therefore the motivation not quite there.

Basically, downloaded content is an unproven market. Nobody knows how to make it work just yet for everyone invoved, although everyone likes the buz surrounding it. I think there's too many cooks in the kitchen to make a good soup at the moment, although I've been predicting downloadable content for years.

I think Apple is headed in the right direction as far as pricing, but still is missing out on providing what their customers want. Battlestar Galactica, for example, had a really crappy quality picture last time I checked vs what was on BT.

I think there's much more that can be done to maximize profits for the industry by staggering pricing, etc like others have noted. It's just going to take time for people to be willing to take the risk and figure out how to twist the knobs and find the right settings to make it worth it.

Continue to make your desires, thoughts known. You never know who's listening.

I think C.K.'s hit on a key issue here--that most of us are willing to pay for something we can get legally ($1 for a song, $2 for a tv show, whatever), which should hearten the entertainment companies. The flip side is that if the convenience is taken away (having to wait for a show to appear or having to wade through a ridiculous variable pricing structure, for example), the folks who are willing to play (and pay) fair lose patience and go back to LimeWire, or Bittorrent, or whatever.

It seems like suits at NBC, or Universal, or Disney, or wherever would want to cultivate a culture that accepts iTunes, etc., as a growing alternative to those who feel entitled to find their whole music library on-line for free. They provide a quality product, conveniently, and we'll buy. They (continue to) yank us around, we balk. How many folks who would pay do you think were so pissed at the Sony/BMG copy protection software mess that they decided to swipe or swap their bands' music on-line? Did S-BMG came out a. ahead or b. behind on that deal--financially--not even considering the pr/image angle?

This doesn't seem that complex. Why are the suits having such a hard time getting it?

There's no point in continuing arguing. I stand by my position that any third party hardware solution to a problem that is not even hardware based (when, where, how, and with what restrictions video content is legally distributed to us from the networks). And it might be fine and dandy where you two live, but ariel signals in the majority of rural America is sucktastic. I can get NBC with acceptable quality, CBS and ABC at just watchable, FOX *most* of the time comes in, with a heavy layer of static, WB / UPN, forget it entirely.

It serves no purpose to begin tossing about consumer electronic hardware band-aids, however effective or ineffective in tackling the large issues of where the television business model is headed. I digress from this thread and encourage anyone who has not already done so to listen to the NPR broadcast I mentioned before (strip the junk characters appended by the blog, story ID is 5015336): http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5015336

If you're ready to be blindsided by sweeping changes to the industry that render your home-made DVR solutions useless and left wondering what happened, then by all means, buy 5 EyeTVs and pretend that you've outwitted "tha man".

Good Lord CK! Get a new topic to write about. I'm sick and tired of hearing you whine about this.

"Now, if you are after any of the popular programming or quality from digital cable or satellite"

Law & Order
Law & Order: SVU
Law & Order: CI
Scrubs
Will & Grace
SNL
Conan O' Brian
My Name is Earl
The Office
24
King of the Hill
Lost
Fox/NFC Football
The Simpsons
Family Guy

Thats off the top of my head, you are right, the OTA HDTV programming is horrid...nothing popular here.