NBC May Sue Tivo for iPod and Sony PSP Plans
Despite the fact that it is legal to record free TV broadcasts on your VCR, DVD recorder, and Tivo, there are rumblings at NBC that they might sue Tivo for allowing those same episodes to be recorded on portable devices, namely the newest iPod and Sony's PSP.
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posted by John Collins | 9:26 AM
3 Comments:
Heavens, NBC has bigger problems than that - their entire channel is a dead zone!
After reading about this possible lawsuit, I reviewed NBC's entire programming schedule for this week using http://tv.yahoo.com/ and it took under 5 minutes to find out that they have no big reason to even turn on their channel!!
Here is the result of NBC announcing they "may" sue TiVo (which I own) over its iPod (which I own) and Sony PSP (which I shall never own). I went to my TiVo, and I deleted every NBC show except for "Surface".
Here is what that means. Each week, I was watching up to 3 NBC shows. Now, I am watching only one NBC show. And weeks that it is in repeats and during summer reruns - I am watching zero NBC shows.
Word to TV ad time bookers in marketing departments: you might want to put your ads on ABC, CBS, WB, or FOX. Where they will actually be seen.
Reasons: (a) most of the shows I and people I know watch and talk about are NOT ON NBC, (b) NBC's shows are lame - look at the series they have in their schedule - "Surface" is not a dull show but most of their shows are, (c) tons of quality series on the other networks. (d) The vast majority of shows by a landslide that I had season passes for were on NBC's competitors - not NBC, (e) contrary to popular belief TiVo owners do glimpse every commercial even if they fast forward and personally I do stop on one if it looks interesting. (f) NBC just pissed off the most afluent product-buyers out there and what little value ad spots had before, it has just gone down.
Companies who want to do ads should bypass NBC completely. Seriously, you want people to watch your ads and you want the people who your ads reach to be potentially interested in buying your product, right? Well, talk to TiVo and see if they and you would like to support a business case where users can subscribe to ads for product types they are interested in: Music players (subcategories: portable MP3, home theater, headphones, computer applications), Cars (sports, luxery, hybrid), Medicine (depression, arthritis, acid reflux), Computers and Software (Macintosh, MS-Windows, Linux, other), etc.
Cut out the middleman - especially _weak_ audience-drawing ones like NBC! Go right for the jugular!! Let the hungry consumer communicate what *he* has an appetite for - and allow him to have it. Work with TiVo to let their well-to-do consumers get it. Because NBC, by having a weak fall season and trying to sue companies that could be enhacing marketing's effectiveness & appeal, do not get it.
Look at ABC, they get it. They offer some shows to go directly to a computer, and from their to an iPod. People will go for watching the free show, with ads, if they can. If they wind up missing it though, rather than making them lose the story thread of the series and lose interest, ABC has figured out how to keep them interested - and keep them *watching*.
Stick a fork in NBC - it's done.
Well, apparently that rumor did not pan out.
In fact, yesterday morning Apple's iTunes music store added TV shows from NBC to its store of videos you can buy online from Apple.
Interesting. NBC has a tight relationship with Apple to resell NBC/Universal TV shows at the iTunes music/video store. So tight, in fact, Apple has produced this NBC/Universal iTunes commercial video..
Maybe the problem is that TiVo's TV-to-iPod feature would discourage some sales. They are broadcasting to the home or cable with commercials for for cable fee. They are already getting paid!
So I don't see how lost revenue is the case. The new feature is consistent with the overall time-shifting concept that has allowed home TV/radio recording in USA for several decades.
Blocking ability to copy the video to iPods is untoward. Everyone including advertisers assumes TV shows will be recorded.
Otherwise, virtually no shows/commercials aired outside narrow prime-time each evening, and on weekends.
If that were the case, advertising rates for all other hours of the day and night would be almost zero. Also, accordingly, cable TV prices would be nowhere near the 40, 60, or 80 dollars per month that cable TV franchises currently enjoy.
If time shifting is so wrong, then kindly drop cable TV rates to 15 dollars per month and NBC, slash your commercial rates for everything but primetime and weekends to practically zip or give it away for free.
Maybe NBC wants to sue TiVo to get money from them or block their product improvements but NBC is not entitled to it, IMHO. I believe their own financial statements when disclosed in that case will show that NBC derives significant revenue from time-shifting, as do cable ventures, in terms of off-hours broadcasts bolstering revenue nicely. We will see, if a court case does materialize.
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