Pirating Our Way To Higher Ratings?
Long time no post. But ok - let's talk about piracy, again. Today in our tutorial Caleb (hope I've got the right person) talked about how piracy is in a way almost free advertising, and I absolutely agree. I've witnessed and been part of it in so many instances, and thought I'd just make a case study out of BitTorrent...
BitTorrent and downloading TV Shows
Many of you may already know what BitTorrent is - it's a protocol for file distribution that has really taken off in the last few years. Basically how it works is, there are 'trackers' and 'torrent files'. All you have to do is have a BitTorrent client, and then download small torrent files, which in turn connect you to trackers, and then you can start downloading and uploading files. One of the main features of BitTorrent is that instead of uploading stuff 'from your library', all the people under a node are concentrating on downloading and uploading one file, or one collection of files. These days it is the primary protocol used in pirating movies and tv shows.
Now, we all know NZ gets American TV shows wayyy later than when they actually air - so it's becoming commonplace to download TV shows weekly as they air overseas and watch them before they even start airing here. Now, you'd think (and they'd tell you) that ratings would be harmed, but I think the opposite happens (I don't have the stats to back it up, but I don't think they do either).
For example, when I saw an episode of the new season of a hit show - I went and told around ten more people about how cool that episode was. Some of them don't even watch the show. But by the time the show came to NZ, they were all watching it - I was generating hype freely.
Of course, what they're scared of is that I'll burn copies of the show for all my friends, and that by the time the show gets to NZ - everyone'd have seen it and it'd be old news. Well, not quite. In fact, the opposite happens: Several people I know have rejected watching downloaded TV shows, preferring to wait for it to air on TV. Why?
"I love the way you have ad breaks in between... it's a different experience, it's the flow of TV, and watching downloaded TV shows screws that up."
"I like knowing about what's gonna happen next at the same time as everyone else - I get to enjoy being part of that community of people who - while all sitting in front of a different TV, are finding out at the exact same time that ___ dies in ____ episode. You just don't get that feeling when you're watching a TV show by yourself on your computer - and when you're free to press pause at any point."
The interesting thing however is, while they shut their ears from spoilers and reject receiving DVD-R's full of this stuff - they still ask with heightened curiosity, 'So? How was the episode? Is it good?' 'Oh yes... it was awesome.' 'Ooooooo... I can't wait...'
Sure, I guess the same applies to TiVO - but the point I'm making is that this BitTorrent thing is not a crisis like it's made out to be. In fact, several people I know who download the shows - by definition, are big fans of that show anyway (i.e. they have enough motivation to use what little bandwidth they have on our crappy broadband to download it - so it must hold a certain value for them). Therefore, they are more likely to be the type who watch episodes more than once, sometimes multiple times.
Most of the people I know who download TV shows actually still watch the show when it airs - they love sitting in a room being the ones who know just a bit more than the others. There are so many reasons why watching TV on TV is appealing, and I just don't think piracy is gonna kill that.
So, what do you guys think?
BitTorrent and downloading TV Shows
Many of you may already know what BitTorrent is - it's a protocol for file distribution that has really taken off in the last few years. Basically how it works is, there are 'trackers' and 'torrent files'. All you have to do is have a BitTorrent client, and then download small torrent files, which in turn connect you to trackers, and then you can start downloading and uploading files. One of the main features of BitTorrent is that instead of uploading stuff 'from your library', all the people under a node are concentrating on downloading and uploading one file, or one collection of files. These days it is the primary protocol used in pirating movies and tv shows.
Now, we all know NZ gets American TV shows wayyy later than when they actually air - so it's becoming commonplace to download TV shows weekly as they air overseas and watch them before they even start airing here. Now, you'd think (and they'd tell you) that ratings would be harmed, but I think the opposite happens (I don't have the stats to back it up, but I don't think they do either).
For example, when I saw an episode of the new season of a hit show - I went and told around ten more people about how cool that episode was. Some of them don't even watch the show. But by the time the show came to NZ, they were all watching it - I was generating hype freely.
Of course, what they're scared of is that I'll burn copies of the show for all my friends, and that by the time the show gets to NZ - everyone'd have seen it and it'd be old news. Well, not quite. In fact, the opposite happens: Several people I know have rejected watching downloaded TV shows, preferring to wait for it to air on TV. Why?
"I love the way you have ad breaks in between... it's a different experience, it's the flow of TV, and watching downloaded TV shows screws that up."
"I like knowing about what's gonna happen next at the same time as everyone else - I get to enjoy being part of that community of people who - while all sitting in front of a different TV, are finding out at the exact same time that ___ dies in ____ episode. You just don't get that feeling when you're watching a TV show by yourself on your computer - and when you're free to press pause at any point."
The interesting thing however is, while they shut their ears from spoilers and reject receiving DVD-R's full of this stuff - they still ask with heightened curiosity, 'So? How was the episode? Is it good?' 'Oh yes... it was awesome.' 'Ooooooo... I can't wait...'
Sure, I guess the same applies to TiVO - but the point I'm making is that this BitTorrent thing is not a crisis like it's made out to be. In fact, several people I know who download the shows - by definition, are big fans of that show anyway (i.e. they have enough motivation to use what little bandwidth they have on our crappy broadband to download it - so it must hold a certain value for them). Therefore, they are more likely to be the type who watch episodes more than once, sometimes multiple times.
Most of the people I know who download TV shows actually still watch the show when it airs - they love sitting in a room being the ones who know just a bit more than the others. There are so many reasons why watching TV on TV is appealing, and I just don't think piracy is gonna kill that.
So, what do you guys think?
posted by Anonymous at 4:39 pm
2 Comments:
I think I disagree with your friends on the reasons why they like watching shows on TV. First of all I hate ad breaks! They are horrible! It's just a way of dragging out the show, and it makes me annoyed having to wait for 5 minutes every 10 minutes to see what happens next. And it's not like I watch the ads either, I usually mute them or change channels or check my computer for something. I think it destroys the flow rather than enhances it. Watching a show on my computer, it's all in one go, nice and smooth.
Second of all, I really don't care if other people haven't watched the episode or not, as long as I get to see it I'm fine.
And the shows I tend to download are the ones not airing on TV, at least not at the time I'm hooked on them. (Which includes quite a few series, since Norway tends to be a bit far behind on airing new episodes of the shows I like...)
And in Norway we don't have download-caps, plus the bandwith is so good, that the "I'm going to get mega-slow internet if i download half an episode and it's going to take me 2 days"-problem isn't really present.
But yes, I don't think piracy will kill TV either. I don't mind watching shows again when they actually get aired. It's a bit like a good film, you don't only watch it once!
-Emily
Good points - those are precisely the reasons why I personally don't watch any actual 'TV' these days. It would definitely be a good start to an essay on the changing sense of 'flow' for the TV medium... or rather, an essay exploring the flow of 'window-ed' film and TV consumption on a computer, and how multi-tasking and play-pause convenience, screen size, variations among hardware + different pirated versions and qualities affect the experience.
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