I’ve been saying for years that internet distribution of audio and video is the only logical progression the industry can make, and that it will ultimately benefit everyone involved. Whether it be purely the lack of manufacturing/shipping costs (not to mention environmental effects) or just the ease of getting your product to people, there’s really no downside. This seems like a no-brainer when it comes to music and movies, but even that has taken the industry way too long to figure out. What wasn’t as much of a no-brainer at first though, was television.
Ever since I first downloaded an episode of a TV show like 6 or 7 years ago, I realized that broadcast television as we know it would not be around too much longer. I mean, if you’re a network, would you rather have 5-6 “prime time” hours to fill with programming to compete with whatever your competition has on in those time slots, or the complete freedom to make shows that various groups of people will like and watch? The problem with the time slot system is that even if you have a good show, if it’s up against a Lost or Desperate Housewives—2 shows which I’ve never seen, just for the record—you’re going to lose your shirt. So that leaves prime time to be filled with whatever the networks think will best be able to compete with the current time slot champion of sucking in viewers.
With a system that completely takes time out of the question, content producers will be able to crank out tons of shows that will appeal to a broader range of people, without having to worry about who they’re “up against.” Tivo and other lesser PVR owners have already mostly figured out this time removal system. They simply specify what shows they want, and then watch them whenever they feel like it, which—provided two shows they want to watch aren’t on at the same time – completely removes the concept of a time slot, and without question they love it. Now all that’s needed is a system that allows shows to be fed to the PVR box on top of the tv without needing to use a scheduled broadcast over physical airwaves.
Here’s were things are beginning to deviate from my ideal scenario. In comes iTunes. Steve Jobs introduces an iPod that can play video, and suddenly there’s an enormous demand for digital downloads of television programming, which iTunes slickly slid into place to provide for. I wouldn’t have guessed that it would have happened as quickly as it did, but it has. So the problem now lies in the fact that, like with albums and singles, iTunes is rapidly becoming the defacto standard for all networks to distribute their content via the internet. This is a problem for several factors, only one of which I’m going to get into here.
That problem is, once again, the DRM that Apple has chosen to use to restrict the use of your files. It is amazingly convenient to be able to quickly and easily grab the latest Desperate Housewives off iTunes for $1.99, provided you don’t want to do anything other than watch it on your iPod. Apple touts the fact that you don’t need an iPod or a Mac to watch the videos you purchase from iTunes, but I defy you to try to play it on your PSP, Treo, or burn it for playback on your portable DVD player, or hell, even the one hooked to your TV. You don’t want to steal the programming, if you did, you’d simply go download it illegally like I am forced to. You pony up your cash to pay for it like a good citizen, but you are treated like a criminal because of it. Just because someone might steal it, the people who have no intention of stealing it can’t use it the way they want.
That TV in your living room is really the last hurdle to getting all programming distributed in this way, and there are many people trying to overcome that hurdle now. The next Mac Mini is undoubtedly going to integrate right into iTunes, which will finally allow people to purchase and watch the programming right from the couch. Providers like Comcast and DishNetwork are eventually going to start to fear revenue loss, so they’ll buddy up with Apple and incorporate iTunes into the receivers they already have in your living rooms.
So this is why I’m concerned that so many shows are starting to show up on iTunes. It will actually solve the “time slot” problem that concerns me so much, but at what cost? If you want to watch quality programming on your time for a nominal fee it will be convenient, but you won’t be able to do any of the things that you should be able to with the content you’re purchasing.
One suggestion that I have that would make the whole scenario more palatable to me would be for iTunes to adopt a content provider style monthly fee, making them just like any other television content provider. If you were to pay for instance $20 a month for access to the library of programming, it wouldn’t be falsely giving you the impression that you’re owning anything. It’s like Netflix. Netflix is awesome because of the way they’ve priced it and because of the library they offer. Hell, “premium” channels like HBO and Showtime could even add on a surcharge just like they currently do on satellite and cable providers. I’d be much happier with a scheme like that, and I’m guessing so would most people. Sure, I’d still have to watch it in my computer (if I had one that Apple will allow it to play on, which I don’t), but I wouldn’t be at all upset about not being able to burn it to disc or watch it on my PSP or whatever.
OK, so I’m lying; I won’t actually pay someone to provide me something I can’t use however I see fit. I’ll just continue to illegally download content until the day when someone allows me to legally do it the same way I currently do.
