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TV tops illegal downloads

Australians illegally download television shows more than music or movies, according to a survey.

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Australians illegally download television shows more than music or movies, according to a survey conducted by News Limited.

A survey of more than 7000 people who admitted to downloading the three entertainment formats was conducted in conjunction with market research firm CoreData.

6694 respondents said they had illegally downloaded or streamed a TV show in the past 12 months. Of these, 86.8 per cent said they did so regularly.

When given multiple choices to explain why they illegally downloaded or streamed TV shows, most respondents chose:

1) I’ll have to wait too long to see it on TV (50.7%)
2) I want to be able to watch it whenever I want (41.5 %)
3) It doesn’t have ads (38.9%)
4) It isn’t shown on TV at all (35.9%)
5) It’s convenient (35.6%

When asked how much they would pay for a convenient legal option, respondents chose:

1) $1 per episode (39.2%)
2) Nothing (33.6%)
3) $2 per episode (18.7 %)
4) $3 per episode (8.4%)

Less than 1 per cent of respondents said they downloaded TV shows to share them with friends.

But while downloading television would clearly impact on the potential audience for television shows, there is still no clarity on how big its impact is. Last year when Seven played a World Premiere episode of FlashForward before the US it attracted 984,000 viewers. The week before was only 12,000 less: 972,000.

And as networks upgrade their own streaming catch-up sites, the message from networks has been inconsistent. While Seven is party to the movie studio case against iiNET, Nine has previously actively encouraged use of Bit Torrent filesharing. Last year it offered Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities via its Hiro-based catch-up video site telling viewers, “You can also copy and share each episode or even distribute the files via file-sharing applications, such as Bit Torrent.”

The News Limited survey indicates two-thirds of respondents would be happy to pay a small fee in order to download television. iTunes was born after the collapse of Napster with a financial model at its heart. iView sprang to life because ABC has an Innovation department as part of its Charter, and is not driven by a profit-return. Commercial networks are slowly waking up to the online market because viewers got there before them.

Source: News Limited

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31 Responses

  1. FTA TV is a business, yet the big 3 break the golden rule of business. Listen to your customers, look after your customers. People are crying out for change, yet nobody is doing anything about it, therefore the customers are going elsewhere. Simple.

  2. I’m one of the few people that can honestly say that I do not download pirated TV, but it certainly is getting harder to do the right thing with:

    1. the FTA’s constantly cancelling anything I am interested in.
    2. the high cost of pay TV*.
    3. the DVD’s not released until after the program finishes on TV to protect the same TV networks that are causing all the problems to begin with!

    If the content owners would allow viewers to purchase the episodes (as download or DVD) closer to the air dates, at reasonable cost, I believe a lot of people would be happy to pay for it. It’s time content owners took care of their viewers instead of the networks, cause without viewers they don’t have a business.

    * it will cost me $49 a month just to get the 2 channels I actually want – cheaper to just buy the DVD box sets.

  3. All reasons mentioned here are right (waiting time, not showing episodes consistently or in the wrong order etc), but when a downloaded show has proper HD picture and sound quality and the FTA station can’t even be bothered to broadcast the HD version (capital cities), then something is dramatically wrong. They treat viewers with contempt and after the last few years of this, we now treat them with contempt. Their advertisers in turn, miss out.

  4. One of the big problems in the Australian market is skimping on HD, ie showing HD shows on the SD multichannel or even not bothering to purchase it in HD at all.

  5. Cookie Monster I was going to say that too. Its true especially with spoiler or if you want to keep up to date with cools shows in the UK or US

  6. alfagirl summarized the one of the main reasons very well — years and years of broadcast inconsistency. High-speed Internet is another reason. Social networking another.

    And the reason TV shows haven’t been lumped in with movie and music downloads is because most TV is free to watch. Start charging for episodes and it becomes Pay-TV.

    What if someone follows half a dozen shows at a time; $25 or so dollars a month extra on top of overpriced Internet access to watch those shows?

  8. I was perfectly happy watching How I Met Your Mother on Seven, at their own pace. Then they decided to cancel it for no discernibly good reason. Is it any wonder people turn to downloading when they treat loyal viewers with that kind of contempt?

  9. Makes sense to me, music can be easily bought online with services for iTunes, but TV shows still rely on the local release, and movies in general are easier on DVD as people want to watch them on a proper TV.

    I agree if shows were aired sooner and not yanked after a hand full of eps, then people are less likely to go else where. As for the cost ITA the $2.99 at iTunes is okay but can get a bit steep when you’re talking a who season, and you don’t have the flexibility of them on DVD.

    It’s strange until now when they talk illegal downloads most talk music and movies but not TV shows, maybe they are admitting fault or the fact it’s legal to record TV shows for your own personal use so using the Internet to get them is just one step away from having a friend send you them on DVD?

  10. I think it’s true most people download TV shows because the shows take too long to be shown here. In the current world where everyone is connected in a worldwide network, it’s too difficult to be left behind when your friend from another country has seen already seen something and you have to wait weeks or even months. For example, who wants to wait for something so great like the Madonna Glee episode or even the final Lost episode when it airs?

    Also, a lot of great shows from the UK (Pineapple Dance Studios immediately come to mind) will never get shown here.

  12. I don’t think anyone would be surprised by this report. I believe that a lot of people are driven to downloading TV shows because of the erratic behaviour of programmers. My show is on. Oh it’s on a bit later. No it’s not on. It was on yesterday. They took it off. Thank God it’s back. They took it off again. Stuff it. I’m surprised people said they would pay for it if it’s a free to air programme. It’s not stealing is it if it’s on free to air?

  13. If our tv stations want to screw us viewers by putting shows on at ridiculous times, taking off without notice or holding off for “ratings opportunities” they deserve to lose any revenue. By treating us with contempt they force people into watching illegally or online “catch-up” episodes on US stations. Suffer in your jocks I say!

  14. I can’t believe that a third of respondants said they were not willing to pay a thing for downloaded tv shows- honestly, how do they expect the makers, writers and actors of tv shows to get paid then?

    I’d be willing to pay $1-2 per episode, I find iTunes $3 to be way overpriced and I’m always annoyed when I forget to watch or tape an episode of something on tv because It means I have to fork out another $3 to catch up-it all ads up.

  15. Is this really surprising ? The free to air networks continue to treat their viewers with contempt, changing programs times at a whim, taking shows off air mid series, not showing series in the proper sequence and don’t get me started on programs running over time (Hey Hey etc).
    I usually wait until series screen on Austar/Foxtel, at least you know the entire series will be shown, at the same time ever week. What a novel concept!

  16. We need an Aussie Hulu. Plain and simple.

    Having said that, streamed TV is not the same as downloaded programs – the Aussie networks not only offer streaming (a poor alternative to download), they offer it at incredibly low bit-rates. ABC fairs best in the department, followed by SBS ( in terms of quality, not quantity).

    Personally, I would pay $1 – $1.30 per episode of high-grade US or UK television, perhaps $2 (for HBO-like quality).

    For Australian programs, I would be prepared to pay nothing over 50c, and in most cases, nothing (ie, it’s not worth paying for).

  17. I think the thing that surprised me the most about the survey is they got more than 7000 people to respond to it.

    I don’t care how legit the company is – if someone asks me if I’m illegally doing *anything*, I ain’t sayin’ nuttin! 😀

  18. I wasn’t aware Nine encouraged use of Bittorrent to share their programming. We’re continually told that file sharing of television shows, movies and song files in general is illegal. So from that understanding, its only legal when ‘they’ decide it isand in all other instances its not?

  19. I guess it’s probably covered by the “wait too long” comment, but I would have thought the biggest issue for most people is Avoiding Spoilers.

    With twitter, facebook, O/S websites etc connecting people directly to the creators/stars of the shows, as well as their friends who don’t live here, avoiding spoilers is all but impossible.

    And for those that would say: “Then stay off the internet”. a) Why should you have to? and b) There’s all of the shows which air here within a day referencing them. The Daily Show, Colbert Report, Letterman, Fallon, Leno, Conan (when he was on), The Soup, Attack of the Show, and countless others all air here on Foxtel (and some on FTA) within a few hours of airing in the states, and all will often reference the most recent episodes of your favourite shows.

    It seems to me that the Australian networks need to sign agreements for these shows that allow them to stream or offer for download immediately after the US airing, to capture those viewers currently downloading form other means. They can then air the shows on traditional channels when it fits into their schedule, without forcing a large (and rapidly growing) chunk of their audience to seek out shows via other means.

    I was at a Supernatural convention on the weekend, and the chorus of Boo’s that was let out every time Channel 10 was mentioned was comical. It wouldn’t have to be that way, if they could offer the episodes immediately via iTunes or their own site at the same time they are available elsewhere on the internet.

  20. there is no easy solution to this from the networks. fasttracking kills shows because they have to air in low rating parts of the year, they have to form around the US’s schedule of random repeats midseason. and usually have to go with minimal promotion. and then not fasttracking loses viewers to the internet.

    IMO people that download will download no matter what the networks do. back in 2008 ten was showing house 3 weeks behind, then the FOX aired 3 weeks of repeats allowing ten to catch up to 24hours behind and the ratings only went downhill. similar things have happened to other shows. there are plenty of people on the lost boards that think they are heroes for downloading Lost even though it was played on 7two just hours after.

    i don’t really have a problem with people that download, just so long as they are not the same people that complain that tv shows are not as good these days or that networks shaft their shows timeslot. maybe if you didn’t download the show could get ratings and profits and it would be better and in a better timeslot.

  21. The networks need to realise we live in a global market, if you can grab a show in about 20 minutes once it’s aired in the US why would you wait a week or even months / a year (e.g. The Office)?

  23. Who cares? We are treated with contempt by the Australian FTAs. It’s better herring tv from the US because either we are several months behind or they don’t show things at all (or at an unsuitable time). Australian networks are so far behind the rest of the world anyway. I believe that there are only a small number of people doing this but will continue to grow. In this day and age, we shouldn’t have to wait anymore (they’ve got their digital channels if things don’t rate).

    Anyways, to summarise, Aussie TV networks suck!!!

  24. Guh, i hate it when people download., especially if they love their show, because it is ripping offf the people who work tirelessly to make it. and because ratings are lower, it may face getting the cut, which isn’t fair to the other people, who actually wait. I am a massive fan of Supernatural and i am so sick of people downloading it and ripping off the team of people who jobs depend on our viewership. Not to say that there arent enough fans because i know there are, but i htink it is also the station that’s airing it’s fault. They put it on So long after the U>S airings and if anyone who give this show time of day realizes that it is too great to wait any amount of time, let alone a significant amount of time. Itobviously suffers because it seemed to do quite well when it was fasttracked but ever since ten started slagging off and delaying screenings, it dropped, but on top of that they put at terrible times with hardly any ads so no one knows its on, inconsiistant times and during the holidays is clearly a recipe for disaster and not fair to fans who actually wait..and this is how they treat a show they reguard as good

    so i think more things need to be factored in to whats affecting ratings.. like what the hell the networks do with it, and do they ever do research.

    P>S WTH is later inthe year… pft ten. you suck

  25. I believe if they ran as close to the US schedule as possible, kept shows in their time-slots, played in correct order, and ran the schedule to time (not 8.36 or 9.51) then the problem would be greatly reduced.

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