Doctor Who goes back in time to beat TV pirates(paidcontent.org)
paidcontent.org
Doctor Who goes back in time to beat TV pirates
http://paidcontent.org/2012/08/29/doctor-who-goes-back-in-time-to-beat-tv-pirates/
16 comments
ABC wouldn't be able to do this if they were not a public broadcaster. Advertisers would be furious.
Couldn't they just ran the adverts in the stream?
Both ITV 1/2/3/4 (UK advert supported channels) and Channel 4 (public remit but supported by adverts) advertise before, during and after the stream. I don't know if they are regulated but the frequency and length of adverts it seem about the same as the broadcast.
Both ITV 1/2/3/4 (UK advert supported channels) and Channel 4 (public remit but supported by adverts) advertise before, during and after the stream. I don't know if they are regulated but the frequency and length of adverts it seem about the same as the broadcast.
This is why I'm glad of the ABC. Advertisers can go to hell!
Finally, someone gets it! Some people will always pirate, but I honestly believe a lot of people would rather use legal means (even if they pay a reasonable amount). It will be interesting to see how this plays out.
I can only hope that more TV shows come to Australia this way. The whole "let's broadcast the show in AU after the season already ended in the US" is such a huge pain and most definitely encourages piracy.
I can only hope that more TV shows come to Australia this way. The whole "let's broadcast the show in AU after the season already ended in the US" is such a huge pain and most definitely encourages piracy.
The only real reason I have for considering pirating something is that "it isn't available in my country for months after it's aired elsewhere", so this is great news.
Why on earth should I wait months before I can see it? I'm sure there's a reason advertisers do this but I don't see it.
Why on earth should I wait months before I can see it? I'm sure there's a reason advertisers do this but I don't see it.
I want a lot of things, but sometimes I just have to wait. I feel like piracy has spawned an entire generation that feels the same way you do: entitled.
I sell books as a side-business and I see it with college students especially. They demand things to be exactly their way or they threaten to complain or send me nasty emails.
I sell books as a side-business and I see it with college students especially. They demand things to be exactly their way or they threaten to complain or send me nasty emails.
I feel like copyright has spawned an entire generation that feels even more entitled than the pirates. Our copyrights are an allowance from society because people feel it is to their benefit to do us a small favor. They are not handed down to me from the Almighty because I'm so awesome for having banged together a Ruby stick and a C stick.
If we want to talk about natural rights, demanding that somebody not view my work until a week later than somebody else just because I feel like making them wait is some of the most absurd entitlement I've ever heard of. Can you imagine a painter standing outside an art gallery stopping Australians from entering? What would you think of that guy?
(This isn't meant as a "Up wit da piratez" screed or whatever. I'm just saying, the more control we exert through our copyrights, the less right I feel we have to call anybody else entitled, because the things we can force people to do through copyright are just ridiculously audacious from a perspective of natural rights.)
If we want to talk about natural rights, demanding that somebody not view my work until a week later than somebody else just because I feel like making them wait is some of the most absurd entitlement I've ever heard of. Can you imagine a painter standing outside an art gallery stopping Australians from entering? What would you think of that guy?
(This isn't meant as a "Up wit da piratez" screed or whatever. I'm just saying, the more control we exert through our copyrights, the less right I feel we have to call anybody else entitled, because the things we can force people to do through copyright are just ridiculously audacious from a perspective of natural rights.)
> but sometimes I just have to wait.
Not to sound like the whiny whipper-snapper I am, but why do we have to wait? If there were a technical reason for it, that would be one thing, but I have not been convinced that arbitrary restrictions are a good thing.
The one-week delay to keep it in a similar time slot (e.g. Saturday night) makes sense, but not the months that often lapse between shows being aired in different countries. Even if there's re-editing that needs to happen (especially for season N of a show that will be re-aired abroad), why not invest the time/money before the initial release to make sure that it's ready to go in short order after the original, rather than sacrifice market share to the pirates?
Not to sound like the whiny whipper-snapper I am, but why do we have to wait? If there were a technical reason for it, that would be one thing, but I have not been convinced that arbitrary restrictions are a good thing.
The one-week delay to keep it in a similar time slot (e.g. Saturday night) makes sense, but not the months that often lapse between shows being aired in different countries. Even if there's re-editing that needs to happen (especially for season N of a show that will be re-aired abroad), why not invest the time/money before the initial release to make sure that it's ready to go in short order after the original, rather than sacrifice market share to the pirates?
>>but sometimes I just have to wait
Not anymore you don't, welcome to the 21st century. Things are instant, information travels at the speed of light. The masses on twitter break stories and start revolutions before mass media can blink. The worlds-a-changin. If content I want is out there, I'll get it.
>>They demand things to be exactly their way
Also, maybe some people demand things to be their way, because they see how their world should be, and they go after it. Accepting the role cast to you in life is NOT the American way. If you see something you don't like, you get up and change it. If you see something you want, you got after it.
(I don't mean for this to sound rude or argumentative, it's just the way I thought it.)
Not anymore you don't, welcome to the 21st century. Things are instant, information travels at the speed of light. The masses on twitter break stories and start revolutions before mass media can blink. The worlds-a-changin. If content I want is out there, I'll get it.
>>They demand things to be exactly their way
Also, maybe some people demand things to be their way, because they see how their world should be, and they go after it. Accepting the role cast to you in life is NOT the American way. If you see something you don't like, you get up and change it. If you see something you want, you got after it.
(I don't mean for this to sound rude or argumentative, it's just the way I thought it.)
really? huh. I've sold many, many books. (I still have thousands in my father's garage) and I've written a book. When you sell books (that you haven't written) you have the same problem of selling anything else; some people just want to complain, and eh, sometimes my packaging legitimately wasn't great, and sometimes the mail system messes up. It happens. You can't maintain a 100% positive rating; even if you are perfect (and you aren't) some people just don't give 100% ratings. And really, if you think you are perfect? that the five stars are being unfairly denied to you? you should probably look inward. Thinking that you are perfect, I think, reflects an attitude that probably leads to more negative ratings than you would otherwise get.
I don't really see the generational thing, though; some people are just nasty by nature. Others think they can get a better deal by being nasty, but the largest group of potentially nasty people is only nasty to you if they feel you are being nasty to them. And that group is usually fairly easy to calm. (I mean, there will always be the first group, and you can't do anything about that, and the second group is also pretty difficult to deal with. But the third group is where you get numbers, and I think they are pretty okay.)
Really, just showing some humanity and genuinely acknowledging your mistakes almost always disarms the third group (and sometimes the second and first.)
I don't really see the generational thing, though; some people are just nasty by nature. Others think they can get a better deal by being nasty, but the largest group of potentially nasty people is only nasty to you if they feel you are being nasty to them. And that group is usually fairly easy to calm. (I mean, there will always be the first group, and you can't do anything about that, and the second group is also pretty difficult to deal with. But the third group is where you get numbers, and I think they are pretty okay.)
Really, just showing some humanity and genuinely acknowledging your mistakes almost always disarms the third group (and sometimes the second and first.)
I do feel entitled: entitled to the same access as others without an obvious reason. I don't feel entitled to receive media for free (and am certainly prepared to pay for easy access, i.e. Steam and Netflix) but I honestly don't see the reason content takes so long to get across country borders.
This seems ridiculous... BBC America is airing this seasons opener on the same day as BBC1 in the UK! (http://www.hitfix.com/whats-alan-watching/doctor-who-to-retu...)
So why do we have convoluted workarounds in Australia if another ex-colony gets it fine?
So why do we have convoluted workarounds in Australia if another ex-colony gets it fine?
Time zones.
BBC America can show it on the same day as BBC1, and it's a few hours later.
If ABC was to show it on the same day as BBC1, it would be several hours earlier. This might merely be embarrassing for the BBC, or it might cause a political row in the UK. "Why are TV licence fee payers paying for the new series of Doctor Who to be shown in Australia before it's shown in the UK?" "Brits paid for Doctor Who to be made, so Brits should get to see it first" etc.
BBC America can show it on the same day as BBC1, and it's a few hours later.
If ABC was to show it on the same day as BBC1, it would be several hours earlier. This might merely be embarrassing for the BBC, or it might cause a political row in the UK. "Why are TV licence fee payers paying for the new series of Doctor Who to be shown in Australia before it's shown in the UK?" "Brits paid for Doctor Who to be made, so Brits should get to see it first" etc.
Years ago the ABC showed the BBC show Absolutely Fabulous, IIRC, the same day that it was shown in the UK, which allowed enough time for UK papers to get details on the shows and publish spoilers in their newspapers.
The ABC ended up being asked to delay transmission by a week to prevent spoilers getting to the larger UK audience.
The ABC ended up being asked to delay transmission by a week to prevent spoilers getting to the larger UK audience.
Don't TV columnist get previews anyway or are all TV listings blurbs provided by the producers/distributors?
I guess they say things like "John reveals a shocking secret!" rather than "John's secret is he's an alien who owns the cheese shop!"
It doesn't explain why it's shown a week later though. Why don't they just show it the day after?
I'm guessing because it will go out on Saturday in the UK and they want it to be in the same slot elsewhere in the world.
The reality is that the loss of a relatively small number of people who'll watch online ahead of it's screening on TV is a small price to pay for the better viewing figures they'll get on a Saturday evening over a Sunday.
I think they're to be commended for doing this - it's what we keep saying, make it available legally and most people will use that in preference to torrents and other more questionable mechanisms.
The reality is that the loss of a relatively small number of people who'll watch online ahead of it's screening on TV is a small price to pay for the better viewing figures they'll get on a Saturday evening over a Sunday.
I think they're to be commended for doing this - it's what we keep saying, make it available legally and most people will use that in preference to torrents and other more questionable mechanisms.
I disagree. This isn't just a tv show, it's a culture. For the fans who are willing to pirate, a week is ETERNITY. A week means avoiding Facebook and social media, avoiding forums and fan sites and blogs who will all be happily discussing the new developments.
And the worst part is, when you finally see it: you have no one to talk to! The world already discussed, spent a week fanboying out about the episode! They'll spend the week discussing yet-another new episode, while you hide trying to discuss a week-old episode without learning new spoilers.
It keeps you a week behind the world on discussion and prevents you from being able to use any fan media during an active season without having big plot points spoiled.
And the worst part is, when you finally see it: you have no one to talk to! The world already discussed, spent a week fanboying out about the episode! They'll spend the week discussing yet-another new episode, while you hide trying to discuss a week-old episode without learning new spoilers.
It keeps you a week behind the world on discussion and prevents you from being able to use any fan media during an active season without having big plot points spoiled.
I'm not sure I understand your point - they're making it legally available via their website as soon as it's available world wide, they're just not putting it on TV until 6 days later. There's no need to avoid anything or pirate or whatever.
Even if that weren't the case, I don't know about the rest of the world but in the UK, at least since the Russell Davis reboot, Doctor Who is mass market.
Yes the people you're talking about exist, but they're not the majority, they're not even that big a minority (though they're very vocal). A network is always going to go where the money is and that's with the largest number of people.
Even if that weren't the case, I don't know about the rest of the world but in the UK, at least since the Russell Davis reboot, Doctor Who is mass market.
Yes the people you're talking about exist, but they're not the majority, they're not even that big a minority (though they're very vocal). A network is always going to go where the money is and that's with the largest number of people.
They're making it available in Australia one week after the release date in the UK and America. This is because of time zones and a desire to ensure the show launches on a Saturday.
Thus, Australians have to endure an entire week of UK/US discussion before they can see an episode.
I imagine many fans will continue to pirate.
Thus, Australians have to endure an entire week of UK/US discussion before they can see an episode.
I imagine many fans will continue to pirate.
Sorry, I don't understand.
Why will Australian fans continue to pirate now that the show will be available legitimately on ABC's website 50 minutes after UK transmission?
Yes, watching it on a PC/tablet/phone is not the same as watching it on a TV, but pirated versions suffer from this as well.
Why will Australian fans continue to pirate now that the show will be available legitimately on ABC's website 50 minutes after UK transmission?
Yes, watching it on a PC/tablet/phone is not the same as watching it on a TV, but pirated versions suffer from this as well.
Demographics and such, probably. The people watching TV Saturday evening aren't the same as on Sunday evening, IIRC.
I'm pretty sure that all non-UK stations normally air things a week after they are aired on BBC, it just happens that the first episode of this season is bumped forward a bit for BBC America. I'm not saying this isn't weird, just pointing out that this happens for everywhere, not just Australia.
IIRC, BBCA aired Doctor Who the same day as the BBC last season. That hasn't been the case most years past, though. As far as I can remember, the "one week behind" thing has been the norm, at least for Doctor Who.
Since 2005, months at first, then weeks by the time series 5 rolled out (though the End of Time was only one week behind).
A Christmas Carol was same day as was all of series 6. Indeed, the need to go online for new Who has decreased. (Although I would buy the season sets when they became available to pay my dues to ensure more were made).
Back during classic Who, a few PBS stations aired some late season 1980s stuff before the BBC due to special agreements.
A Christmas Carol was same day as was all of series 6. Indeed, the need to go online for new Who has decreased. (Although I would buy the season sets when they became available to pay my dues to ensure more were made).
Back during classic Who, a few PBS stations aired some late season 1980s stuff before the BBC due to special agreements.
They show it at primetime - 7:30 Saturday. You can watch it free on iView just a bit after the BBC gets it, though.
I would love to see this, but as I live in Germany, I'm pretty sure I'll not be greeted by the episode or even a video player but a "not a available in your country" message.
Anyway, BBC probably already knows they could make a fortune if they offered a season for £9 on iTunes (or something like that) with no delay, so I'm not gonna call them about it.
Anyway, BBC probably already knows they could make a fortune if they offered a season for £9 on iTunes (or something like that) with no delay, so I'm not gonna call them about it.
Same here (also Germany). Worse yet, even if a german broadcaster was offering it, chances are you would only be able to get it dubbed in Germany without the option to switch to the original language.
Brilliant: "The fact that it is happening is indicative that as broadcasters we are not meeting demand for a segment of the population."
"Piracy is wrong, as you are denying someone their rights and income for their intellectual property."
What a bunch of complete hypocrites. The only reason the show still exists is because of piracy, because the idiots at the BBC managed to most of the old episodes. So without pirates supplying the BBC and the general public with their copies of the old episodes, the show literally couldn't exist today.
What a bunch of complete hypocrites. The only reason the show still exists is because of piracy, because the idiots at the BBC managed to most of the old episodes. So without pirates supplying the BBC and the general public with their copies of the old episodes, the show literally couldn't exist today.
Only most of the first and second doctors' runs were lost. Alot of the missing episodes that were recovered came from overseas broadcasters. The BBC always had the complete runs of the other five doctors - over 22 years of television.
Here in Canada the channel called Showcase airs their popular new sci-fi time travel cop show called Continuum soon after it airs.
It takes a while though because Canada is so big, six time zones, only after it airs on the west coast plus a delay while they upload it which pretty much means the next day.
Even with that and the delay to put up it's on thepiratebay.org about half an hour after it airs, a good 12 hours before it's officially put on Showcase's website. But Showcase does IP restrict viewers to Canada only, I don't agree with such regional restrictions.
It takes a while though because Canada is so big, six time zones, only after it airs on the west coast plus a delay while they upload it which pretty much means the next day.
Even with that and the delay to put up it's on thepiratebay.org about half an hour after it airs, a good 12 hours before it's officially put on Showcase's website. But Showcase does IP restrict viewers to Canada only, I don't agree with such regional restrictions.
I haven't watched Doctor Who since we left Austria and no longer get BBC via cable. I hadn't seen the new Doctor. Kind of a shock: wow, that guy's young. How is he as The Doctor?
I think he's excellent. What's amusing is, before he took over as The Doctor, some pictures of him circulated, where he has this total "sketchy emo kid" look going on. A lot of Doctor Who fans had a "WTF? No way can this guy be The Doctor" reaction. But from pretty much his first episode, he's been great. His rendition of The Doctor reminds me a bit of Patrick Troughton's.
Originally I thought I didn't like him, but in actuality he's a fantastic doctor and a nice deviation from the Tennant/Edelsson mix. I found the writing in the last season of the show to be abysmal, though. Didn't feel like Doctor Who at all.
Completely agree with you on Matt Smith. I hated him at first, but I think I just wanted more Tennant. After clearing my head and going back in, he’s now my Doctor.
(Although I disagree with you on last season. It didn't feel like traditional Doctor Who, but I really liked the direction, and although Season 5 was much better end-to-end, Season 6 had some of my favorite episodes.)
(Although I disagree with you on last season. It didn't feel like traditional Doctor Who, but I really liked the direction, and although Season 5 was much better end-to-end, Season 6 had some of my favorite episodes.)
I wanted to hate him at first, he looked goofy, but he's a brilliant doctor and the second he said "bowties are cool" he became my favorite doctor thus far, though I find a way to love each one.
Season 6 just really felt like they said "Lets try and target our demographics." There was a lot less science, it was much more earth-centric, and the level of hand-waving was obscene.
The standalone episodes outshone the story arc episodes. Moffet seems to have realized this in planning for series 7. I for one am all for destroying the Doctor's magic wand, since it has become too powerful. A little more science and logic, and a lot less sci-fi and paradox magic would be nice.
>Didn't feel like Doctor Who at all.
I very strongly agree. For example, it's pretty hard to imagine that the Doctor, upon learning of the Tesselactor's modus operandi, would have any reaction other than "stop this atrocity at all costs".
I very strongly agree. For example, it's pretty hard to imagine that the Doctor, upon learning of the Tesselactor's modus operandi, would have any reaction other than "stop this atrocity at all costs".
He's supposed to be a little off. It's a plot thing. He plays the part perfectly.
Though, still, I wish they hadn't gone there. I preferred some of the past doctors. I don't dislike Smith as much as I used to, though. I'm pretty neutral on him now.
Though, still, I wish they hadn't gone there. I preferred some of the past doctors. I don't dislike Smith as much as I used to, though. I'm pretty neutral on him now.
The Doctor is always a little off.
This rather funny cartoon sums up the difference between Tennant's Doctor and Smith's:
http://hi3ei.deviantart.com/art/Differences-201740537?moodon...
Now if only that would happen here in the US. I simply don't understand why I should have to pay to get something the next day when I could get it for free minutes after it airs.
So, the Max Headroom hacker will be the villain?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Headroom_broadcast_signal_i...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_Headroom_broadcast_signal_i...
Giving people what they want - to combat piracy! An innovative strategy.
"Piracy is wrong" morally sure, but economically I don't know. It's a complicated question, and without actual numbers the arguments for or against are totally meaningless.
I'm still waiting to be convinced on morally wrong.
I hate to be ungrateful but I'd like to see HD versions next time - in a lot of Australian broadcast areas there aren't any HD stations over the air any more.
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> Piracy is wrong, as you are denying someone their rights and income for their intellectual property
Already paid for it with my licence fee. I'll do what I want.
Already paid for it with my licence fee. I'll do what I want.
If only they were doing this when Doctor Who still had good writing.
Serving your paying customers and enticing pirates towards being paying customers is how ALL rights holders should behave.
It's been all stick and no carrot for so long.