Podcasts for Money…
I read an article today in Entertainment Weekly about NBC pulling out of iTunes….They specifically referenced that episodes of the Office, and Heros were availbe for download (at a price) through iTunes. But NBC felt that iTunes was charging too much so they pulled out.
What interests me about this article is this…Why are people paying to watch NBC shows? I could see people paying to watch the Sopranos, or Big Love…because they are on premium stations. And yes I realize that people want to own these videos for themselves, and a majority of the people purchase them to watch them when they feel like it. But I don’t see the need for paying 10 bucks for an episode of the Office when I can watch it for free on Thursdays. And in the days of DVR, Tivo, DVD Recorders, and now a coax card for your computer…why pay for it. It’s Free..every Thursday night…and with some shows you can watch the episode on the station website for a week. But again you can’t own it.
This all goes back to the idea of television the way I want it…and by I, I mean the TV viewer…you control what you watch, and when you watch it…People want to take their programs with them on the go…
I love my iPod, I haven’t quite gotten into using it for video (I know it’s funny coming from a Video Guy…but it’s a Music Device, and I’m also a music guy). Maybe if I was on the bus instead of a car I could see getting it.
The days of the tangible video/audio media is coming to a close…The next wave of home entertainment will come through the apple TV, or similar wiFi device. I mean afterall…nobody wants to put a disc into their computer…that’s too much work.
Please don’t make this out to seem like a rant…it’s not…I’m not on a soap box, I am interested in current video trends…but I’m also an art lover, and I would rather have an album with artwork…or a DVD with cool packaging then a digital file that sits on my computer. This is coming from the guy who collects vinyl, and has over 200 DVDs….So hopefully there will still be people out there like me who want this sort of thing. And it won’t die off completely.
September 26th, 2007 at 11:51 am
We own the season one DVD of Heroes because we enjoy the show and will watch the DVD again and again. I can’t see paying for an individual episode unless I missed it. I am careful to set my VCR (yup, the VHS kind), for shows I know I’ll miss.
I would be very disappointed if music and videos went completely digital. I’ve lost downloaded songs and blown up my iPod more than once. I still like to buy CDs so I have a backup of my songs. I’d rather have a VHS tape to watch in my living room than a digital to watch on my tiny iPod.
I can’t get over the amount of money people are spending on digital media. If you get a flatscreen TV with Tivo, you then have to pay for the Tivo service. If you’re Tivoing, you probably have cable. If you’re downloading media, you definitely have high-speed Internet. The monthly fees have to be outrageous! I guess TV just isn’t that important to me. I’d rather give PBS money to support quality programming than pay Time Warner half my monthly salary.