Distribution
Digital copies on Blu-Ray
Written by Kelsey Brookes Tuesday, 28 July 2009 03:53
Gizmodo has published an excellent article, creatively titled 'Why Are Movie Studios so F%&king Stupid?', which explains in great details just how badly the media distribution industry fails to understand the market.
The writer had recent purchased a copy of Zack and Miri Make a Porno on Blu-Ray and was delighted to discover that the disc also included a digital copy of the film.
You'd think this would enable you to download the content you legitimately purchased and watch it on any device you own.
You'd be wrong.
To watch this DRM infested horror (note, even RIAA thinks DRM is dead!) you need to install special Windows only software and only on limited number of machines and only a limited number of times.
No Mac OS, no Linux, no media centres, no iPhones, no PSPs - in other words, unless you're sitting in front of your Windows PC, you can't watch the damn thing.
So why bother? Sure, many of us do watch movies on our computers, but is it really our first choice of relaxation venue? I think not.
Why do media companies continue to punish those who actually purchase their content? Why do I have to sit through FBI warnings, be barred from skipping ads and not allowed to transport it to the delivery mechanism of choice?
Is it really that hard for media companies to understand that by punishing their customers and putting up roadblocks to the viewing experience that they're simply creating pirates?
Read the full article on Gizmodo
0 CommentsMacrowho?
Written by Justine Brookes Friday, 17 July 2009 00:19
Who are you and what have you done with Macrovision?
The company best known for adding restrictive DRM that has annoyed legitimate license-holders the world over is changing their name and business model.
Now called 'Rovi', the company will provide enhanced media access capabilities to as-yet unannounced TVs. Not the least of which will be access to TV guides, free streaming content and your own local media via their own DNLA server.
0 CommentsHulu blocking on PS3 explained
Written by Kelsey Brookes Thursday, 16 July 2009 22:08
G4 has heard back from an Hulu employee regarding the online distribution platform's reasons for blocking streaming to PS3 devices.
Unsurprisingly, it comes down to the wishes of content providers feel insecure and ill-prepared to deal with business strategies that deliver content by non-traditional means.
"Everything we do is with an eye toward achieving our long-term goal of maximizing the content you can access as conveniently as possible in a way that 'works' for the content owner," reads the response I received from customer service. "In the short-term that may require us to make some tough decisions, but we only do so when we believe it improves our long-term prospects to build a more enduring, legal solution to that same problem."
As Gizmodo editor John Herrman points out, it's clear that Hulu are attempting to change things from within by playing nice with the content providers.
I'm more of the opinion that media companies need a swift kick in the pants, as if declining revenues weren't enough. I still can't view any Hulu content in Australia - no advertising revenue, no media.
I can't help but wonder where the holdup is. Are advertisers really not willing to put funds into a medium that will provide them with vastly greater reach and the most comprehensive viewing statistics? Or are the content providers simply unable to grasp the concept that they can sell global advertising on an entirely different scale?
Read the whole article on G4 via Gizmodo.
0 CommentsChina pressures Melbourne International Film Festival
Written by Kelsey Brookes Wednesday, 15 July 2009 05:12
Chunmei Chen, the new Chinese cultural attache has contacted the organisers of the Melbourne International Film Festival in an attempt to get the festival to drop a film about an exiled Uighur businesswoman,"The 10 Conditions of Love".
The film has been blamed for instigating this month's ethnic riots.
"She urged me to withdraw the film from the festival and then told me in no uncertain terms that I should justify my decision to include the film in the festival program," Said fesitval director Richard Moore or Chen's request.
Read the full story on Reuters.
0 CommentsStephen Fry: Filthy downloader
Written by Kelsey Brookes Tuesday, 14 July 2009 02:14
Stephen Fry admits to downloading episodes of 24 and the season finale of House.
0 CommentsHulu advertising: more expensive than TV
Written by Kelsey Brookes Friday, 26 June 2009 03:48
According to PC World, it costs more to advertise on Hulu than on TV, with rates of $60 per thousand viewers as compared to $20 - $40 on TV.
The reason for this is fairly straightforward, when you think about it:
Online viewers have to actively seek out the program they want to watch, so advertisers end up with a guaranteed audience for their commercial every time someone clicks play on Hulu or TV.com. Online programs also have an average of 37 seconds of commercials during an episode, while prime-time TV averages nine minutes of ads.
David Poltrack, chief research officer at New York-based CBS, cited a Neilsen discovery that fewer online ads means viewers are twice as likely to remember a commercial they've seen on Hulu than on television, Bloomberg reported.
Of course, viewership isn't large enough at this stage to completely write off TV advertising, but it's certainly a step in the right direction.
Free content delivered online via services such as Hulu are more easily tracked (who needs a Nielsen box when you have an IP address?) and can result in more targeted contextual advertising reaching the right viewers.
It could also mean the difference between life and death for shows such as Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles whose viewerbase was known to be extremely large online.
Read the full article on PC World.
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