Seven in new fastracking bid?
Is Seven considering airing US programmes concurrent with the US in order to combat piracy?
- Published by David Knox
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The Australian Communications and Media Authority says Seven is mulling new ways of tackling television piracy.
According to ACMA, the Seven Network is considering airing programmes of US origin at the same time as they are screened in the United States in order to combat piracy.
The claim is part of a report on IPTV and Internet Video Delivery Models.
ACMA says the threat of piracy has motivated commercial FTA broadcasters to reduce distribution lag with international content.
Such a move would make promotions of international titles a lot more challenging, with limited materials available for press.
Seven was quick to pounce on ‘fastracking’ some years ago, a word it was swift to claim in branding. These days it is used sparingly, if at all. But there are still some shows enjoying a quick turnaround. Lost caught up to the US, airing same day / date -although the network was cornered when ABC brought forward the finale episode.
However Seven has been aggressive in its stance against piracy, including joining movie studios in the test case against iiNet.
But the idea of a permanent fastracking may not be realised.
A Seven insider told TV Tonight they were surprised to hear the claim, as reported by ACMA.
Source: ACMA
38 Responses
Fasttracking would be fine if the general public were made to understand that at times their favourite show will stop and start due to pre-emptions, mid-season hiatuses etc in the US of A, and to be sure to return when new episodes come back. The networks need to somehow educate the public on this.
does that mean seven are going to show them in the middle of the day ?
It’s a good idea and I think it could work well for Seven. However it will not work on its own, there needs to be across-the-board changes.
Shows need to start at exactly the same time. I would like there to be a ‘truce’ between the networks where they all change programs at the same second, though that won’t happen.
Seven should also make a policy of never taking a show off air. If a show is fast-tracked and it doesn’t rate, it should be placed on SevenTWO at the same time on the same day, with notice given to allow audiences to switch. It would increase the ratings on their digital channel and allow shows to be shown uninterrupted.
As for the non-rating period, they could have the shows fast tracked until the end of November, and then start them up in February again, but make it up by not taking pauses like they do in the US.
The only problem I see is that shows will not run week-to-week, which I like
I don’t think they are talking about the ‘same time’ as the US, that would mean prime-time moving to the middle of the day, apart for the classification of some show not being alone on at that time they are not going to waste potential ratings hits in the day time when no one is watching.
I think they mean fast tracking with-in 24 hours of the US, people come home from work and can watch their shows the same day as the US.
I think that the networks just need to realise that in this day and age, with the internet and all, (most) US shows are not a viable option in prime time scheduling. They actually need to start producing some (or, a lot more) Australian drama, preferably of good quality I might add.
More “fast-tracking” would be great. I’m normally happy to wait for a TV series if I know it will air on ABC or SBS (e.g. United States of Tara, Breaking Bad, Being Human, Misfits, etc) because I can be somewhat assured that when it does air, it will do so at the same timeslot each week until the series/season is finished.
But I’m not enthused about waiting for a TV series to air on 7, 9 or 10 simply to find it randomly moved around their schedule or removed entirely because the network deems the ratings unacceptable (e.g. Supernatural).
Alternatively, what would it take for 7, 9 and 10 to offer “fast-tracked” episodes for download from their websites (complete with ads)? The hard-core fans would be free to obtain the episodes “legally” from the Australian network and the networks could still show the episodes to the “casual” fans on FTA at a later time that suits the networks.
I love the idea of this, excpet i do see one flaw. Viewers in the usa are alway complaining about schedualing problems. Often their shows fall in line with popular sporting events so the consistency of the shows is lost and this will result in the same dilema for us if it is a go ahead.
But in saying that, i think i could deal with that if it mean seeing our shows at the same time as the usa.. it will not only help with the piracey issues, but also it stops spoilers emerging.
This is great news. I’d so rather watch all my favourite shows at the same time as the US, rather than waiting till February and later for them to start. The long wait and anticipation to see what happens after amazing season finales it too much to handle. I hope they do this.
I don’t care about fast-tracking, as long as I don’t have to wait too long for a favourite show.
Over 6 months is too long.
Now that Ninjavideo has gone to god, we’ll have to put up with irregular time slots, late starts, revolting ad breaks, badly placed watermarks, etc from FTA. Ugh.
RIP Ninjavideo.
The biggest problem is the networks moving a show’s timeslot all the time. People are busy these days and need to make an appointment to watch TV – for example if you are a fan of Greys you’ll arrange your week so you’re free for the hour it’s on. Then suddenly when the network moves it to a later slot or different night you miss it.
A good, and bad move. Seven struck some sort of deal in 2004 or so, to get the ABC Productions (the production company, not the channel) shows, it got them the triple combo of Housewives, Lost and Grey’s, which saw them shoot to #1, the downside of this is that they also had to take in flops, like Eli Stone, FF (although not at first), Cougar Town, Dirty Sexy Money etc etc.
Point is, alot of the ABC Productions shows are heavily serialized, like Grey’s and Housewives, you miss one, maybe 2 episodes and you’re brain is all over the walls trying to figure out the story lines. This doesn’t help when in the US, they air 10 episodes over the course of about 15 weeks, then air another 12-15 episodes over the course of about 5 months, meaning there will be breaks. Now for CSI and NCIS, it probably wouldn’t be so bad, they repeat pretty well, but when it comes to Lost or FlashForward, both pretty much as serialized as it gets, having a random week break with no real explanation will only shed viewers. Problem is the public still doesn’t get that sporting events rate very well in the states, and the amount of games, especially in playoffs can range anywhere from 3 to 7, and a network putting up a show that costs $6m/hr to produce against a sporting event is never a good idea, thus there will be a staggered episode span.
I think that ad placement is a factor as well, and I mean actual ads. I remember watching Prison Break, and sitting on the edge of my seat, literally, then when it hit ad breaks, the first ad was a diaper commercial, perhaps putting an ad for The A-Team or the new Modern Warfare game is more appropriate given the audience stria hgt off the bat, I mean there are 5 minutes of ad breaks, 10 ads, I’m sure Huggies wouldn’t mind exactly where about it would go in those 5 mintues.
Ultimately it’s the networks fault for not clamping down on time constraints, if a show is scheduled to start at 8:30, start it at 8:30, not at 8:47… perhaps get the shows to edit out the “Before the break” segment of the show, I mean the ad break was only 5 minutes long, is the memory span of the average viewer that bad? I mean, in the 17 minutes I wait for my show to come on, I probably could pirate half a season of the show, and remember, these pirates are ad free, aren’t hastily cropped and edited either so they can fit the 45 minutes time slot channels give to a one hour show.
Sounds like a great idea, although unfortunately 7 has a problem due to the Summer period.
From late Nov – early Feb is the traditional Summer non-ratings period. If 7 were indeed intent on airing fast tracked U.S. shows which would have the potential to rate very well why would they waste valuable ratings points by airing them during this time?
Unless of course the ratings seasons here are changed to accomodate such a move although I very much doubt it.
Good idea in theory but the reality is something different altogether……….
“A Seven insider [was] surprised to hear the claim, as reported by ACMA” Why is that? Because they think their programming is up to scratch?
i think there was a sasitsfactory amount of fasttracking last fall season. 7 had ghost whisperer, bones, castle, flashforward, mercy, criminal minds, and the amazing race fasttracked. but whether or not they FT it doesn’t seem to make that much of a difference by the end of the season. held off shows like greys, brothers and sisters, 30rock, private practice after a few double episodes all seemed to finish around the same time as bones castle, mentalist, NCIS, 2.5 ect that were fasttracked, the difference being that the fasttracked shws need to take random midseason breaks to work around US schedules. that being the case i hope B&S, DH, greys ect. stay as held off they wouldn’t handle the erratic scheduling that results from fasttracking the way procedurals do. then there is issues with little promotion and hype and being in the low rating part of the year.
Instead of wasting time and money chasing the “threat of piracy”, why don’t the TV channels just try making better choices in their programming? That’s what viewers are asking for and yet it never happens.
“airing programmes of US origin at the same time as they are screened in the United States ”
I can hear the uproar from parents groups now when M rated programs are aired during times when children are home watching.
Here’s the most perfect idea Seven to stop Piracy.
Actually air the full series even if they don’t rate in the millions each time in a decent time slot.
Fast tracking has ruined Australia’s traditionally uninterrupted tv seasons, but I do ofcourse understand their motivation for doing so.
Omg yes, please fasttrack. Stupid piracy. guh. Some other channels should do the same, like say Channel Ten…. with idk say. Supernatural, which is a big sufferer of piracy.
If Seven air programs at the same time that they air in the U.S., then what about the time difference?
This may only combat piracy by a fraction of a percent. Here is what you need to do Seven:
– Air shows on the hour/half hour not 8 mins late.
– No misleading or heavily out of context commercials for shows. Advertise what a show is truely about, not what you want people to think it is.
– Advertise all shows are actually on, dont just advertise those shows that already are high in the ratings.
– Dont put spoilers into the commercials
– Stick to a decent timeslot for the entire season run, or move it to the same time on the digital channel.
While fasttracking is a good idea, it means Seven will be affected more often by programming breaks in the US as the networks often airs a series in five or six portions with breaks between 2 weeks and one month (Christmas/New Year break). If the series is shown on the Fox network, it may also be affected by the Major League Baseball playoffs in October.
As much as I love the idea of fast tracking US shows I don’t see it being practical for all. Right now Seven holds off on several key shows including Greys and Desperate which has their season finals back in May, will that happen again next season or will some top shows be forced on to 7TWO and conflict with other top shows on their main channel?
And then what will they fill the network with from May to September when the majority of top US shows are on hiatus for 3-4 months?
I think it will stay pretty much as it is now, some top shows fast tracked, others delayed months until they become hits then fast tracked in their 2nd or 3rd season.
Suing iiNet and others is not going to help, a waste of month/time which will piss off the fans who can’t get their shows they love any other way.
Good. This was what we all wanted you to do.
Now, all you have to do is show the programs consistently, in the right order, without pre-empting them for sport.