So the season Finale of Battlestar Galactica aired on friday night on the SciFi (sorry, SyFy) channel in the US and I think it would be fair to say that the two hour episode was one of the most eagerly awaited events on television in years. The show has a huge fan base and the much publicized finale was something everyone was gearing up for. Of course a lot of people get their shows off iTunes and this was probably one of the most eagerly awaited downloads since iTunes began selling TV shows. So you can only imagine how pissed off a lot of people were when they decided to split the finale into two parts on iTunes so they could charge twice as much for it.
Now, I’m not blaming Apple (heaven forbid) as I assume this is NBC/SciFi** pulling the strings. And you probably think, two hour episode, fair enough, pay twice as much, except they regularly show two hour episodes on iTunes as one download. Not only that, but people who had bought a season pass didn’t get the second part (or third part if you go by the iTunes delineation of the episode parts) according to some of the comments on the iTunes store (if someone had a season pass and can confirm or deny this please let me know). Apparently it was considered extra and you had to pay for that. * While some people out there will see this as a legitimate way to make money, others will see it as a blatant attempt to cash in on the pent up excitement for the episode and fleece customers.
People want to pay for content. I know the execs at NBC and every other major studio don’t believe that, but a lot of people are willing to pay for good high quality access to their favorite TV shows. But they don’t like being taken advantage of either. As many commenters on iTunes have pointed out, it’s crap like this that pushes people back to bit-torrent.
Anyway, I know this is a bit of a rant, and it seems like I’ve been doing a lot of Apple related ranting lately, but given the global economic climate, blatantly cashing in on something like this is a bit rich.
On a side note however, the season finale did not disappoint. And who’d have thought that…… would turn out to be………(ahem, cough)
* [UPDATE] I don’t think this is the case after all. From what I can gather it was included for season pass holders. Again, if anyone can confirm, please leave a comment
** Sci Fi is owned by NBC Universal (in case you were wondering why I mentioned NBC)
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Totally, completely agree. My wife and I spent a couple of hours looking at music videos on YouTube the other night. This exact topic came up. We wouldn’t mind paying for decent quality videos.
I live in Japan and there are several English language shows that are not available on Japanese TV or in Video Rental Shops – so what do I do? Torrents, of course! Again, we would quite happily pay for this service. But it’s not available. Order a DVD from the UK and we can’t watch it in Japan. The music and movie companies have put their necks neatly on the block and carefully aligned them so that the guillotine will slice cleanly through. They are losing a lot of money. TV is dead. Why don’t these guys realize that?
John Davis
TV is not dead, yet. I can’t wait for the day when the whole concept of broadcasting, and using a recorder, dies off in favour of publishing. The content provider can still generate buzz by saying, “The final show of BSG will be published on Friday at 9 PM”. Then watch their servers crash unless they use torrents to distribute the content.
But, unless there are significant changes in the pricing model, I won’t be watching any shows at all because I won’t be able to afford them. Given what I’m paying now for the number of hours I watch on cable, the price of shows (with commercials) has to drop to no more than 50 cents. Without commercials, maybe 75 cents.
There is no way I’ll pay two bucks for a 22 minute show.
Finally, Rogers Cable with its ridiculous 95 GB/month cap will also ensure I won’t be downloading many shows, let alone HD content.
Actually two hours shows vary on iTUnes.
Lost – Season 1 opener (2 parts) was 2 purchases. Season 1 finale (3 parts) was 3 purchases. Season 2 finale (2 parts) was 2 purchases. Season 3 finale (1 part but 2 hours) was 1 purchase. Season 4 finale (3 parts) was 3 purchases.
Keep in mind that all season finales of Lost contain a 2 hour episode – whether called a part or not.
The Office – Season 4 contained FOUR one hour episodes with a title of “parts 1 & 2″. Guess what? They were all single purchases.
Just saying that it’s probably better to go by their proper titles – and strangely enough SciFi (sorry everyone but “SyFy” really is a crappy name) aired it a “part 2″, meaning iTunes should have sold it as a single purchase.
Sorry, just noticed my name gets rendered just as carppy as “SyFy”. My name’s Dave D”, not “DAVED”.
If the show airs in two or three parts you don’t mind – but the second part of BSG was a two hour episode that they then split into another two parts – making it into three parts.
Nothing “makes” people pirate other than their own desires. Costs too much? Don’t buy it. Read a book.
TV is not dead? I cancelled my satellite service four years ago and haven’t watched TV since.