Do delays in TV programming cause piracy?

[Jorge]

A new Australian study says "huge delays" in airing overseas TV programming locally are to blame for an increase in piracy in the Land Down Under.

The UK's Sky TV blunder back in 2004, where a delay in airing it in the United States by some 3 months led to its widespread distribution over P2P and file-sharing networks for users to see ahead of its regularly scheduled appearance on the Sci-Fi channel, was the real first example of what happens when you don't offer people legitimate legal alternatives to piracy.

Sky TV's experience has apparently not been observed by Aust

Read Full Article Here

[Dark Messenger]

A new Australian study says "huge delays" in airing overseas TV programming locally are to blame for an increase in piracy in the Land Down Under.

The UK's Sky TV blunder back in 2004, where a delay in airing it in the United States by some 3 months led to its widespread distribution over P2P and file-sharing networks for users to see ahead of its regularly scheduled appearance on the Sci-Fi channel, was the real first example of what happens when you don't offer people legitimate legal alternatives to piracy.

Sky TV's experience has apparently not been observed by Aust

Read Full Article Here

I would have said, "no". but that makes sense.

[fargif]

I would say Yes.
I could wait about a week.But right now it´s about 4-5 months.
Just in special cases.Lost.Prison Break.24.Heroes.
The rest i could wait a month or so.
The problem with other country´s buying the rights to a certain tv series is a bit risky.Not even in america the major tv stations know what they are doing at times.So for foreing countries to buy the rights has to be a hit in the USA is a risky deal.

[Jared Moya]

I would have said, "no". but that makes sense.

Well according to the study the average delay for an overseas TV program like "Lost" to air in Australia is 17 MONTHS!!!! Yep, 17, months!

If you thought that 3 month hiatus was bad, try 17.

[thepuzzler]

This is exactly what I wrote my thesis at university about.

Piracy is actually pushing release dates forward. Take the new series of Lost as an example. For the first time ever it is only about 3 days behind the states now (still three days too late for me, but hey.) instead of 4 or 5 months behind.

Australia certainly have a raw deal when it comes to official release dates, however I believe piracy will soon change that, with simultaneous worldwide release dates becoming the norm.

[Jared Moya]

This is exactly what I wrote my thesis at university about.

Piracy is actually pushing release dates forward. Take the new series of Lost as an example. For the first time ever it is only about 3 days behind the states now (still three days too late for me, but hey.) instead of 4 or 5 months behind.

Australia certainly have a raw deal when it comes to official release dates, however I believe piracy will soon change that, with simultaneous worldwide release dates becoming the norm.

I agree, the internet and the world of instant communication have made it so that they really have no choice..........

[Afn]

people have busy schedules and do not have the time to watch X show at Y time on Z day. So people timeshift, drop the commercials from programs and distribute them via p2p. People shared vcr tapes to watch the better tv shows when they have the time. Nothing new. The scale of p2p is new, and the future of all programs will be non-commerical and p2p.

[exodusms]

If I lived in Australia I would not be able to wait that long for anything. I just dont understand why they have such a big delay? Is it the studios fault or australias local programming.

[Howzat]

I was very surprised to see that the delays have gotten longer not shorter in Australia..

It's a joke how long some things take to get here, sci-fi in particular. Erratic programming and late time slots are the order of the day. If only the majority of the population actually had taste, then they could be prime-time shows :-)