The Killing Writer: Illegal Downloading is "How Shows Die"

[ZippyDSMlee]

At the end of the day when everything is said and done bad media is the MAIN reason why media X or Y fails. Do not ever think differently.

Other things also can attribute to media failing like region locking, staggered release dates, price gouging, lack of optimized distribution methods,ect,ect


I pay 70$ a month(and another 70$ for 6.0mb DSL) for grandma to watch animal planet and shes the only one who watches TV at all here, I download what I watch and keep most of it. And I will keep downloading mostly pirated goods because there is not a good steam or GOG equivalent of video and music service that I can pay a few bucks on sale for this or that, hell even Crunchyroll is half assed and not worth the money yet mainly due to lack of content I want to see and crap subtitling work.

Hell I would pay 20$ to download(not stream none of this one time BS) Guardians of the Galaxy if they released a 1080p download for it when it hit theaters otherwise I am forced to wait a year and by then I am much less likely to spend anything.

So you know what? The industry and sit on it and spin its the reason we are here like this, its the reason we are jaded and hateful of their IP BS.

I do try to buy used and hit the steam sales when I can. I find that half the time the updates on steam or GOG are better than the discs but sometimes you get a dud like Divine Divinity ><

 

[Grabehn]

What's one of the highest ranking reason why people watch shows ilegally? Availability. And not having it release at the same time cuz some fuckwit decided "HEY, let's release this 2-3 days AFTER the U.S because REASONS" is not the best choice, ever.

Yeah no, I mean the fact that I had to google what The Killing was, after I thought it was that one with Kevin Bacon on it, to then realize that in fact it wasn't, but also that it wasn't transmited at all here doesn't help it that much.

 

[Therumancer]

At the end of the day TV is not really "free" it's a business, and the business is advertising. Basically they make these shows to sell advertising space so the people making commercials can get their products seen and make money. When you start cutting out commercials and the like and just taking the show, that represents a certain problem. If the advertisers don't think they get their money's worth by buying time on a show because nobody watches it in a way that their ads can be seen they are going to not buy ad space, and the network is going to cancel the show and order one that they can sell ad space during at a premium.

When it comes to a lot of streaming services and such that are approved, again it all comes down to the money gained from the ads, and that money going to the sponsoring network. If some "pirate" site just gives it to you, they are instead getting hits for their ad partners, or just flat out stealing from the network. Like it or not TV is not free, they can't just produce this stuff as a public service.

Geoblocks and such seem to exist largely because the networks owning a show can't obtain advertising properly in the region. Either because of laws about it, the cost of doing this kind of business not justifying the effort, or whatever else. To say nothing of foreign censorship standards. Most nations that allow a show into their country want to have some say in the content of that show, and as a rule nobody wants to produce totally sanitized garbage that is palatable to the entire world population and all the diverse moral guardians out there. When it comes to Australia for example I look at all the crap over video game censorship, I can just imagine what their attitudes about foreign TV shows are and what happened during some of the meetings with networks before it was decided the product wouldn't be carried. It should also be noted that by definition if a media company just flat out said "it's good people are seeing our show anyway" and didn't participate with the geoblocks which are probably being demanded by the governments, they could get into trouble internationally especially with allied countries. If for whatever reason Syfy and Australia can't agree on Warehouse 13 for example and thus it's not allowed to sell ad space and be broadcast in Australia, then obviously Syfy can't be seen publically approving of people getting the show anyway.

When it comes to things like Netflix, Hulu, or whatever else, the basic deal is that these services pay money directly for the rights to the shows and then hope to make it back through cumulative membership fees. In some cases like Hulu they double dip (membership fees, and then they run their own unskippable ads).

I more or less understand it and the issues involved. At the end of the day it all comes down to the world sucking and everyone being a greedy jerk or control freak (and sometimes both). At the end of the day piracy is wrong, but at the same time, it's hard to really side with corporations whose major complaint is that their pile of profits isn't big enough. You know guys who scream "OMG, this is a horrible failure" when they only make 40 million in profit when some projection early on said they should make 45 million. That's why I hate business today, it's no longer about making a good product for a fair price, it's all about how far you can push and how ridiculous you can be. Like with the gaming industry, there aren't any good guys. I just can't defend corporations when it comes to pirates. Not because the pirates are right and I agree with them, but because corporations of all sorts (games, TV, etc...) tend to be equally bad in their own way. Network TV is a rat race, and even seems to wear it like a badge of honor at times, showing it's self-aware. I don't personally see where a group of people who are proud of being immoral, money grubbing, bastards out to squeeze every penny out of people fairly or not, can be critical of another group of immoral people. I mean sure, the pirates ARE wrong, but when that's point out by people who are equally bad in their own way how can you take it seriously? It's like if dimensional Aliens invaded Europe during WW II and killing all the people and the Nazis started screaming for help and made a moral appeal because genocide is wrong... how can you take it seriously?

 

[Funyahns]

I don't pirate shows, but on the other hand I am not going to be on a tv schedule, I already have a job for that.

 

[Joccaren]

If the shows weren't region locked, behind a subscription paywall, with constant ad interruptions... Maybe I'd more careful pick where I watch them.
As is, I'll watch them wherever they're available in my region, for free, with minimal audio playing ads around. And some sites like this are legal, but I ain't gonna cherry pick. Make your sites good and usable, and you'll get more users. A shocking revelation I know. Make them crap, and people will use alternatives, not because they're maliciously wanting to ruin your show or anything, or because they want to "stick it to the man", but because the alternative is the better option for them

 

[Elfgore]

I think very few pirates think they're "sticking it to the man" when they pirate. They probably just don't want to waste money on mediocrity or they might just be real cheap bastards. Doesn't help either when you make the series either insanely-expensive to purchase and impossible to sample. Why would someone risk sixty bucks on something that could be total shit? Sure they could catch it on TV, but finding reruns can be a living hell. Going to a torrenting site is just the easier and safer method.

I'm not condoning or supporting piracy, just saying that if you want people do not do it. Give them resources so they don't have to.

 

[drummond13]

I'm not condoning piracy, but this writer's argument is unbelievably flawed.

Every show is pirated. The most popular shows are also the most pirated shows. Every show faces this reality. Yet some shows thrive year after year, and others struggle and die.

 

[Phoenixmgs_v1legacy]

Uhh... Your viewership of a TV show only counts if you are part of the small sample with the Nielsen stuff. Me watching Firefly or Arrested Development didn't help the shows and me "not watching" The Killing is not hurting the show.

 

[SilverUchiha]

I stream TV shows online (not through official sites) under three conditions (baring in mind I don't have cable and refuse to pay cable companies those obscene amounts for the three channels I have any interest in and mountains of crap I don't):

1 - It isn't available on HuluPlus or Netflix (to which I am a memeber)

2 - It's host site (such as Nickelodeon) doesn't offer full episodes or the most recent episodes to view.

3 - It's an older show that isn't available on the previously listed sites legally.

For shows I really enjoy like Breaking Bad or Avatar, I'll buy the DVDs shortly after they're available. But I prefer to watch things on my own time and not when they are scheduled on TV and Hulu / Netflix doesn't always have the latest episodes available or the show period. I suppose a 4th exception would be japanese-anime shows... but that's kind of a given since most of them I can't get over here in America until maybe months or YEARS after they've been in Japan.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Protip: The more easily people can watch a show legally, the less likely they are to pirate it. When Gabe Newell said "Piracy is a service problem", he was talking about games, but it applies to TV and movies also.

P.S. Thanks

2nd Protip: If your show heavily borrows elements from a cult classic (Twin Peaks in this case), its gonna be a hard sell if the show's not as good or better. The Killing was neither. Just better than average.

 

[LongAndShort]

This lady has obviously never tried to access legal source websites from, say, Australia. Though in the defence of content distributors they aren't the only part of the problem. Local governments struggle to understand this whole internet thing and how to apply content/copyright/ratings laws to digital distribution.

 

[Strazdas]

No, illegal downloading does not kill shows. lack of legal purchase possibility kills show. and no, a monthly wage priced season from amazon shipped across the ocean does not count as available. you make whole season for less than a movies budget and yet you seem to think you deserve to get paid twice, from TV and heavily overpriced BRsets. how about we fix that and then start talking about piracy?
because all piracy does now is keep your fanbase larger.

In short: if you don't buy it, they don't make it.

well, how can i buy it if its not available? how about you fix that problem before complaining about people not buying it?

Meanwhile at the Game of Thrones studio....

That's pretty much what I was going to say. "Funny, HBO sees stuff like that as free advertisement for their network."

http://www.businessinsider.com/time-warner-ceo-people-pirating-game-of-thrones-is-better-than-an-emmy-for-hbo-2013-8

thats odd considering HBO has been making statements like "omg Australians are filthy pirates (paraphrased)". But then i do seee a lot of people introduced to HBO via piracy that end up trying to be costumers (sadly not suceeding most of the time because service not available)

There are plenty of other legal ways to watch most TV shows between the air date and the DVD release if you live in US and watch only very popular shows.

fixed this for you.

There's a reason southpark puts all of their episodes online, legally, for free, withing hours of broadcast.

they stopped that thanks to new deal with hulu or some other stream service. Old episodes still available but will be removed in future. Escapist wrote about this.

 

[eberhart]

Meanwhile at the Game of Thrones studio....

Hell, meanwhile at Forbrydelsen studio...

You know, the version of this show that was at least properly made.

 

[FogHornG36]

considering we are in a golden age of tv shows, i think you have no valid points, and should stop talking.

GoT, Breaking bad, walking dead, hell on wheels, Dexter, there are others, can't think of them

 

[Pinkamena]

Oh boy I'm sure that that's why Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones flunked so early.
Wait...

 

[unacomn]

[one episode made available illegally is "worth the equivalent of thousands of downloads that weren't watched on a legal site"]

Ah, the old "I can prove a lost sale because I am a mind reading jedi master" argument. It never fails to amuse.

 

[Shiftygiant]

I can't reasonably watch any of these shows because I'm British and all the websites tell me to fuck off back to the shire if I so much as try, hence why I and pretty much most people I know will use Pirate sites to watch shows.

I'd be happy to watch it on a subscription site like Netflix, however the show's aren't always on there, so you know, give me a service that will be easier than performing self-appendicectomy, and maybe then I'll stop watching New Episodes on a pirate site. Heck, I'd be happy to watch it on the networks site, but oh wait it's Fucking Region Locked.

 

[L. Declis]

I can't reasonably watch any of these shows because I'm British and all the websites tell me to fuck off back to the shire if I so much as try, hence why I and pretty much most people I know will use Pirate sites to watch shows.

I'd be happy to watch it on a subscription site like Netflix, however the show's aren't always on there, so you know, give me a service that will be easier than performing self-appendicectomy, and maybe then I'll stop watching New Episodes on a pirate site. Heck, I'd be happy to watch it on the networks site, but oh wait it's Fucking Region Locked.

Fucking yes.

I am a Brit who now lives in China.

Can you imagine how fucking hard it is to see ANYTHING? Game of Thrones, censored and in Chinese. I want to watch it in English? Then I get told to fuck off. Breaking Bad? Censored. House of Cards? Censored.

Every TV show you can imagine is put on the Chinese equivalent of Youtube because the US never bothers to release anything here, and then the Chinese CCP will censor it to oblivion.

Here, piracy is the norm because they have spent so long screwing the Chinese over that the Chinese simply ignore them now; even if they bring it over now, no one will watch it. They are one day behind on the Big Bang Theory and everything else, they don't want to wait so they don't.

If I try to buy a DVD or a game, I get a fucking region lock thrown on me. And adverts for twenty minutes.

Maybe if American companies could recognise that more than North America exists and cater for them, they'd actually sell something.

That said, piracy can also be used as a way to check something out. Because of piracy, I have bought Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, House of Cards, Homeland, Black Books, Spartacus, Big Bang Theory and so on because I have watched them first.

The only show I didn't end up buying was the Walking Dead because it's absolute crap.

You want people to buy stuff? Make good stuff, and then let them get it. People will pay 9/10 times for good products just to own it. If you hide it away because their flag doesn't have enough stars, then they can't buy it and won't. But they will still watch it, you can't stop that.

 

[Zacharious-khan]

I think a quote from my main man Gaben is appropriate "We think there is a fundamental misconception about piracy. Piracy is almost always a service problem and not a pricing problem,"

 

[Buckets]

Doesn't explain Firefly, DVD sales MADE it one of the most popular scifi TV series after it's unnecessary death. Downloading doesn't come into the equation then.