« Whither the Fourth Pillar of Fair Use |
Main
| Trusted Computing Video Standard Moves Forward »
May 10, 2005
If the Content is Free, Why Use Cable?
Posted by Ernest Miller
MediaDailyNews has an interesting article explaining why video-on-demand services aren't thriving (Users Don't Want VOD To Be C.O.D., Want It Free):
THE LACK OF FREE CONTENT appears to be supressing demand for video-on-demand (VOD) television services, suggests new research from Forrester Research. VOD is now available to nearly 19 million homes--or about 75 percent of the U.S. digital cable universe, Forrester's Josh Bernoff notes in his report on the various ad models for VOD. While movie buys and usage of subscription content such as HBO On-Demand are increasing, the model is languishing to some degree, largely because of the reluctance of cable operators to pay for quality programming. [emphasis in original]
Here's a question. Why the heck would cable be the platform of choice for distributing free video content anyway? Does such centralization of distribution (and the attendant gatekeeping function) really make sense? Why not skip the cable company and deliver the VOD content via IP?
One interesting fact from the article is that VOD use is greatest among households with TiVos, since they are already used to the idea of timeshifting television viewing. So where is my internet enabled TiVo that will let me download programming and not worry about this cable-controlled VOD business?
via PaidContent
Comments (1)
+ TrackBacks (0) | Category: Broadcatching/Podcasting | Network Law
- RELATED ENTRIES
- › Kitchen Academy - Course II - Day 23
- › Kitchen Academy - Course II - Day 22
- › Kitchen Academy - Course II - Day 21
- › Kitchen Academy - The Hollywood Cookbook and Guest Chef Michael Montilla - March 18th
- › Kitchen Academy - Course II - Day 20
- › Kitchen Academy - Course II - Day 19
- › Kitchen Academy - Course II - Day 18
- › Salsa Verde
Ernest Miller pursues research and writing on cyberlaw, intellectual property, and First Amendment issues. Mr. Miller attended the U.S. Naval Academy before attending Yale Law School, where he was president and co-founder of the Law and Technology Society, and founded the technology law and policy news site LawMeme. He is a fellow of the Information Society Project at Yale Law School.
Ernest Miller's blog postings can also be found @
1. Parker Thompson on May 10, 2005 10:11 AM writes...
You ask: "So where is my internet enabled TiVo that will let me download programming and not worry about this cable-controlled VOD business?"
Cable complanies, like record labels, have no strong desire to provide you with VOD that isn't more than time-shifted pay per view. If they were to, for example, provide you access to the myriad of free content online, someone astute would eventually ask the question "why am I paying these guys for access to free content?"
Meanwhile projects like MythTV aren't even on consumers' radars because they aren't plug and play. Functionality is moot if it means having a PC next to the TV (not to mention price).
Personally I'd love to see an OS piece of hardware for PVRs that various projects/developers could design to, perhaps based on Capricorn Technology/The Internet Archive's open source storage node (that is, the hardware designs are OS). The motherboards, as I understand it, are great for mpeg decoding and with very little modification (less storage, smaller form factor, don't paint it red) this would be a stellar PVR and relatively cheap. Add a basic linux distro and perhaps a development API and it's now easy for companies to spring up around it, adding interfaces and business models that make sense to them.
Barring an open platform, I'm rooting for the next best thing, a product called DaveTV. They're staying out of the content business, building a platform for delivery and partnering with content providers who are responsible for determining their own pricing structures. They've got a desktop client for those who want to use a computer, or a set top box. Having seen the demo, I can say it's pretty cool.
Permalink to Comment