Torrents to hurt DSTV?

I watch the latest Stargates and such. DSTV has only every shown up to season 5 of SG-1. They never show a current series that I am interested, and they never show it in a linear way so I can follow the greater storyline. DSTV also kills the channels I watch (Sci channel)... and wont subscribe to the other channels I wanna watch. Sky One and the Science Channel. (I got bored of the Discovery Channel when it became mostly a stupid people reality show thing).

DSTV= You watch what they want you to watch.. and you bloody well better like it.
Torrents=I can watch what I want to watch, when I want to.
 
The downloading of content is chipping away at the old model, but it is still only a small percentage of viewers. For the most part the model is still intact. That's why we haven't seen too much movement to address the "problem". But it is a trend that is not going to stop.

What added benefit does Multichoice and Co really provide consumers? They are just a form of distribution. Just like the internet is a form of distribution. As the internet captures more and more market share, they will have to adapt their services and offerings if they stand any chance of keeping their consumer base.
 
some observations

most guys like the convenience of watching stuff whenever you want. PVR guys - takes care of that problem.

Repeats - all over the world repeats are the most common thing ever. Infact its worse overseas. Repeats also kinda sort out the problem of being stuck to watching a show at one time only - which you guys mention is a problem.

Sure you can buy extra bandwidth with R550 bucks a month, but its not that much if you include line rental etc.

So the only argument i see is the delay factor.
 
catweasel said:
some observations

most guys like the convenience of watching stuff whenever you want. PVR guys - takes care of that problem.

Repeats - all over the world repeats are the most common thing ever. Infact its worse overseas. Repeats also kinda sort out the problem of being stuck to watching a show at one time only - which you guys mention is a problem.

Sure you can buy extra bandwidth with R550 bucks a month, but its not that much if you include line rental etc.

So the only argument i see is the delay factor.
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Or the "shows never make it to DSTV" factor. Or they repeat the same season over and over again. Or they get all stupid with their advertising requirements and we lose channels like the SciFi Channel.

Theres a lot to it than your perception.
 
Balstrome said:
My prediction. In the future, we will have talented folk who get together and produce high quality series for the internet, either for free or very cheaply. I could be wrong about the "In the future" part.
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Fudzy said:
Baring in mind that to pay for these show, they would have to have constant in-line advertising which obscures the storyline.
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No.
The internet works this way - and people use adblockers.
And still money is made.

Targeted advertising will be HUGE. As will merchandising.
And product placement (discretely), will be a big earner.
It will not exactly detract from the storyline if Hiro is sitting in MacDs while talking to Claire.

Of course, one can not have a period-piece where the characters are quaffing Coke Lite...
 
w1z4rd said:
Or the "shows never make it to DSTV" factor.
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Sure, but special interest items are always going to be an issue. There just are not enough people to make it viable for networks to show everything. In the states, everbody is not going to be able to get all the british shows they like. In SA, they have an indian bouquet which you have to pay extra for. So special interest shows will always be a problem in any country.

w1z4rd said:
Or they repeat the same season over and over again.
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Repeats - covered already.

w1z4rd said:
Or they get all stupid with their advertising requirements and we lose channels like the SciFi Channel.
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Covered by special interest point above. If there are enough people out there willing to pay for the service, then they could add it. Otherwise special interest guys have to look elsewhere.
 
Why doesn't DSTV have a pay-per-view option like in the UK/US? Also, I wish you could choose only the channels you want and then pay for just those.
 
catweasel said:
Sure, but special interest items are always going to be an issue. There just are not enough people to make it viable for networks to show everything. In the states, everbody is not going to be able to get all the british shows they like. In SA, they have an indian bouquet which you have to pay extra for. So special interest shows will always be a problem in any country.
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Its no more a special interest than a sports channel and DSTV DID used to have the Sci Channel.. which they let go due to advertising restrictions by the Sci Channel. IE... DSTV didnt wanna play ball.

I also would hardly call channels like Sky One to be "Special interest"


Repeats - covered already.
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And they will be covered again and again and again and again and again. Theyre repeats.



Covered by special interest point above. If there are enough people out there willing to pay for the service, then they could add it. Otherwise special interest guys have to look elsewhere.
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Theres more than enough interest for the Sci Channel and Sky One... and I remember when they took the Sci Channel off.. how many people got upset about it.

However... with the entire DSTV choice of channels... theres not one Channel where I can watch the latest episode of the worlds most popular series (Lost, Heroes, Star Gate, Dexter, Prison Break,etc etc etc). With DSTV I either get them months later... years later... or not at all.

None of this is "special interest".
 
I have DStv (Premium) but it is only to get M-Net since I am a self confessed Egoli and Binnelanders addict.

Does downloading stuff hurt DStv ? Well that depends because firstly, they are making a lot of money - R5000+ per year from me alone.

Secondly, if I download the latest episode of Top Gear an hour after it went live on BBC I am not hurting monoschoice cause they will only have it on in a few months time. Plus, being BBC it is 60 full minutes of the program I want and not 43 minutes cause all those pesky advertisements have been yabked out !

Now, if only I can download Egoli and Binnelanders somewhere....
 
Multichoice

I also agree that people see downloading a TV series more convenient and the time delay is also a great problem.

But then again, Multichoice have a PVR and this can be used to record your shows to also watch it on your convenience.

And then there is Sport and channels like BBC Food and cartoon channels (where would you download that?)

So there are thing Multichoice do broadcast that is worth watching, the only thing is the time delay between when the TV series or movie have been airing in America and to which it takes to show on Multichoice.
 
Even SABC3 shows more recent shows.
Heroes S2 was on and Bionic Woman started yesterday.

I've seen both of these already from torrents.
 
I don't have television anymore. I couldn't find anything to watch on DSTV except the rugby and the cooking channel.

Discovery used to play the same episodes of Mythbusters over and over over ad nauseum. I spend my free time played xbox now and I go over to a friends house or pub to watch the rugby.

In the next few years, digital distribution will ruin the monopolies and they have to produce worthwhile content to stay on top of the market, which is good for all of us.
 
zola237 said:
I also agree that people see downloading a TV series more convenient and the time delay is also a great problem.

But then again, Multichoice have a PVR and this can be used to record your shows to also watch it on your convenience.
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Thats not really a good point.. considering the series we get on DSTV is normally at least a year old and already out of date. Who wants to record old worn our series a season behind? Much less people than who want the latest episode of that series.

Multichoice suck at this.. unless you really do enjoy watching The Little House on the Pari (but spelt right).
 
I still have my TV... connected to my PC to watch what I've downloaded :P

Monochoice is a rip off, SABC is just plain k@k. Overall I wouldn't pay my TV license if it were up to me.
 
w1z4rd said:
Its no more a special interest than a sports channel
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Special interest is relative to the population of the country you live in. Sport is never gonna be considered special interest in a sport mad country like south africa.

w1z4rd said:
DSTV DID used to have the Sci Channel.. which they let go due to advertising restrictions by the Sci Channel. IE... DSTV didnt wanna play ball.

I also would hardly call channels like Sky One to be "Special interest"

Theres more than enough interest for the Sci Channel and Sky One... and I remember when they took the Sci Channel off.. how many people got upset about it.
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Ya sure you know a lot of people upset that Sci-Fi got cancelled, i probably know a lot more people that didn't even bother to see what is on sci-fi.

w1z4rd said:
And they will be covered again and again and again and again and again. Theyre repeats.
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All networks have repeats get used to it. No body forces anyone to watch them. Yet people do.

w1z4rd said:
However... with the entire DSTV choice of channels... theres not one Channel where I can watch the latest episode of the worlds most popular series (Lost, Heroes, Star Gate, Dexter, Prison Break,etc etc etc). With DSTV I either get them months later... years later... or not at all.

None of this is "special interest".
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I didnt say all of those shows you mentioned above are special interest. I also did acknowledge earlier in this thread that the delay in showing shows is a problem.

Point i am making is torrents will hurt dstv, but not for all the reasons you guys mention. For stuff dstv doesnt show i.e. special interest stuff, torrent are not going to have such an impact.

For having the freedom to watch what you want at your own convenience, not going to hurt dstv, pvr tackles that issue.

Repeats not going to hurt dstv, if you using your pvr, you never have to watch stuff you dont want to.

I mentioned the delay in airing shows is the problem for dstv, and why torrents will affect them.
 
Ahhh, most of the content you download with p2p apps you not legally entitled to watch. So lets not pretend like DSTV has competition with this model of content delivery, its more of a threat. Most of the stuff on NBC is for viewers in the USA only. If you circumvent that, then thats your business.
 
People on this forum are generally tech-savvy and a very small part of the population of DSTV users. I doubt whether torrents will have major impact on DSTV. And while we are bandwidth starved it will matter even less.
 
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