NonprayingMantis: what would you say was a reasonable amount?  $1/episode? $5/episode? $20/episode?  something else?

crackrdbycracku: @NonprayingMantis

Shouldn't the question be: 

As Game Of Thrones is the most pirated show of the year, is there a business case for a third season? 

The answer may well be; No, there isn't. 

or better yet; Is there a traditional business case? And if there isn't what are the alternatives? 

Should the content industry be going to KickStarter to fund GOT S3? Should they be selling an App? Should they be selling GOT ring-tone, screen savers, ecards? Should there be a subscription based MMOG? Should they be pre-selling high value, high margin box sets or other merchandise signed by the cast?

I would say the problem is that the content industry hasn't actually asked the second question. 

The Sky, SoHo, business model is bundling a few premium services you want with a lot of stuff you don't and tell you that's price. The days of this working are numbered for content like GOT isn't dependent on live broadcast like sport. 

Basically they can make some money doing things differently or loose a lot of money doing the same things they have always done. Just ask the next music exec how things have been going for the last ten years. 
 

crackrdbycracku: @NonprayingMantis

Shouldn't the question be: 

As Game Of Thrones is the most pirated show of the year, is there a business case for a third season? 

The answer may well be; No, there isn't. 

or better yet; Is there a traditional business case? And if there isn't what are the alternatives? 

Should the content industry be going to KickStarter to fund GOT S3? Should they be selling an App? Should they be selling GOT ring-tone, screen savers, ecards? Should there be a subscription based MMOG? Should they be pre-selling high value, high margin box sets or other merchandise signed by the cast?

I would say the problem is that the content industry hasn't actually asked the second question. 

The Sky, SoHo, business model is bundling a few premium services you want with a lot of stuff you don't and tell you that's price. The days of this working are numbered for content like GOT isn't dependent on live broadcast like sport. 

Basically they can make some money doing things differently or loose a lot of money doing the same things they have always done. Just ask the next music exec how things have been going for the last ten years. 
 

crackrdbycracku:

expression:?

TV Blogger Chris Philpott also wrote a pretty good piece on pay tv with a NZ perspective: http://www.stuff.co.nz/entertainment/blogs/on-the-box/6747696/Counting-the-cost-of-pay-TV

He converted the US costs to NZ$ therefore he isn't comparing apples and apples. Content is cheaper in the US, simple as that.?

One way to look at it is that Sky have practices I disagree with, monopoly deals limiting QuickFlix. I do things Sky disagrees with, downloading content.?

Why should I hold myself to a higher standard than Sky does??

rvangelder:

NonprayingMantis: what would you say was a reasonable amount?  $1/episode? $5/episode? $20/episode?  something else?

somewhere between $1 and $5 per episode here.

DS9: 

Remember HBO is primarily a movie channel that produces its own stuff, GoT is a draw card to get subscribers to the network: HBO East/West and HBO2. Starz (Spartacus) and Showtime (Dexter, Weeds & Californication) are the same.

Think of it more like Nosh selling Milk as a loss leader to get you through the door.

networkn: Anyone who watched the Ep7 mind PM'ing me to tell me what happened at the very very end?

Ragnor:

DS9: 

Remember HBO is primarily a movie channel that produces its own stuff, GoT is a draw card to get subscribers to the network: HBO East/West and HBO2. Starz (Spartacus) and Showtime (Dexter, Weeds & Californication) are the same.

Think of it more like Nosh selling Milk as a loss leader to get you through the door.

That analogy doesn't work in the slightest: A supermarket doesn't force you to buy $100+ worth of stuff (because that's the only option they sell) a month when you only wanted 3x $1-5 items.

rvangelder:

NonprayingMantis: what would you say was a reasonable amount?  $1/episode? $5/episode? $20/episode?  something else?

somewhere between $1 and $5 per episode here.

crackrdbycracku: The first point is bundling is on the way out. 

The number of people willing to sign up for a service which they feel makes them pay for a lot of stuff they don't want is reducing day by day.

The ability to say: Well, if you don't pay the price then you don't watch Game of Thrones, is also reducing day by day. Basically, the biggest barrier to piracy is that people don't want to do it. 

When was the last time somebody you know bought a CD because they really liked one song and this was the only way to get it?

The second point is each time someone downloads GoT doesn't represent a lost subscription. But it probably does represent a lost opportunity to make some money from those people. 

According to Stuff (yeah, I know) GoT S2 has been downloaded 25 million times. So, if all those people were paying one dollar per episode (10 episodes in the season?) that would be $250 million. 

Anybody else seeing a missed opportunity here? 

crackrdbycracku: Hasn't the point been made that we live in a world where you can't enforce bundles anymore? 

What if both of these people ask: "Why are we paying 10 for a bundle when we only want to watch one show?" 

God forbid they both ask: "Why are we paying at all when we can just torrent it?"

Bundling requires control, the internet has meant this has been lost. 

Yes, we know free rider behaviour gets to the point where nobody is paying and the whole system collapses. But most individuals, 25 million of them with regard to GoT, don't think like that.

We want solutions and we will pay for them.

NetFlix made a pile of cash because they innovated, first by posting people DVDs and then by offering a streaming service. They answered the question: What would be easier than driving to the vid store? 

Block Buster went out of business because they didn't change.

Apple created a digital download market on iTunes, record stores continue to close. 

Bundled video content services like Sky are somehow different from this? I doubt it. 

Adapt or die, don't whine.