Did Game of Thrones express really stop the piracy?
Foxtel talks up the express numbers, but Game of Thrones still tops the illegal downloads.
- Published by David Knox
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- Filed under Subscription
The ‘Express from the US’ premiere for Game of Thrones resulted in good numbers for Foxtel.
The anticipated third season was the highest rated non-sports show for Easter Monday.
It had four screenings with a total of 224,000 viewers on Showcase / Showcase +2:
4:20pm 95,000
+2: 9,000
8:35pm 109,000
+2: 11,000
Those are very good numbers for a channel that is not on the basic tier, but it arguably benefited from the public holiday too.
Brian Walsh, Foxtel Executive Director of Television told Fairfax the results were “brilliant” and a victory for their fast-tracking policy, saying he had “no doubt that Foxtel subscribers have embraced our express from the US strategy.”
But did it thwart the illegal downloads? Not entirely.
As Gizmodo pointed out, torrent pirate sites have ranked the premiere as breaking records on multiple fronts around the world, with more than 160,000 simultaneous peers. It’s estimated that the latest Game of Thrones episode has been downloaded over a million times already.
In terms of locations, the U.S. comes out on top, followed by the UK and Australia. With our smaller population that still puts us on top per capita.
London tops the list with a 4.3% piracy rate, with Sydney and Melbourne sharing third place honours on 3%; the only other Australian city to make the top ten is Perth at ninth position with 1.5%.
So why is Australia still so high if the broadcaster is giving it to us less than 2 hours after its US West Coast screening? I suspect the answers are:
a) non Foxtel subscribers
b) Foxtel subscribers who don’t have Showcase
c) impatient fans who want it immediately after its East Coast screening.
HBO takes a broader view on the impact of piracy. Unbelievably, HBO programmer Michael Lombardo told EW, “I probably shouldn’t be saying this, but it is a compliment of sorts.
“The demand is there. And it certainly didn’t negatively impact the DVD sales. [Piracy is] something that comes along with having a wildly successful show on a subscription network.”
Of course, HBO gets revenue from the DVDs, whereas Foxtel does not.
Meanwhile the other legal way to access the show is via iTunes at $3 an episode or starting at $29 for a Season Pass.
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25 Responses
@Ebony they will stop making any show if it does not get ratings.And by downloading a program will not achieve anything in the long run.
Link the appleTV up to the big screen telly, watch it in HD. Crank up the 5.1 or 7.1 surround.
Send the children to bed.
Settle in.
Epic.
Most of the programs so far that have been fast tracked are not programs that set the world on fire,but saying that for people who download programs from itunes for so much money why would you bother.You may as well have Foxtel sit in a comfy chair watch it in HD.Record it if you wish keep the series if you want.Better than watching it on your computer screen where quality can be a problem
I watched it through iTunes on Tuesday night – bought the season pass. I’m fine waiting a whole day to see it. (Remember, we’re a day ‘ahead’ of the USA, so it only looks like a two-day wait on the calendar).
I love this show. I want them to make more (just saw headline about HBO greenlighting 10 more eps, yay). These kinds of shows are massively expensive to make and HBO must get their investment back or they’ll stop making them.
The alternative is to cram them full of product placement. Do we really want to see Joffrey slipping Rohypnol® into Sansa’s drinks . . . Jon Snow snacking on a Mars® bar to keep him warm up north?
Everyone else who ‘freeloads’ this show may feel ‘entitled’ to watch this at the same time as the rest of the world, but they’re not. Delay your gratification by 24 hours. Be a responsible viewer. Pay for it.
Otherwise they’ll stop making it.
/rant.
I’m cabin crew and am always checking out what people are watching and listening to on their iPads etc. Game Of Thrones is by far the most watched show on my flights (which I assume were downloaded illegally). Modern Family, Big Bang Theory and the Transformers movies also get seen a lot. Then there was the big burly miner who was watching Days Of Our Lives. I did a double take on that one.
Interesting anecdotal info Mac!
@unclepete
A 17 channel digital FTA system that is highly subsidised with coverage of all urban areas and protected by anti-syphoning laws means that cable is limited in Australia to showing FTA rejects.
The total population of Australia is only 22m which is not enough to justify the creation of a large volume of unique content that would compete with FTA.
So there is nothing that can be used to drive higher penetration and deliver economies of scale to lower costs. What’s more cable is old technology and in the US its penetration is falling as cheap fast internet becomes widely available so who is going to invest in it apart from someone with a monopoly?
The only model for cable that makes sense is establishing a monopoly on minor sports and US premium content that doesn’t rate on FTA and slugging wealthy consumers for access to it. Which is exactly what Foxtel are doing and why Optus and Austar couldn’t make any money in the business and sold out to Foxtel.
This is never going to change. Your model is based on Foxtel just deciding to make less money — and why would they ever do that?
The only competition that will benefit consumers will come via the internet.
@Josh777 – fully agree. Foxtel is ridiculously overpriced and stupidly run. Those claiming “economies of scale” are forgetting that if more people sign on to Foxtel then their lower prices are offset by more people paying them. I and almost everyone I know who does not have Foxtel would have it if we didn’t have to buy every single package in order to get the channels we want (along with all the others we don’t). Foxtel are very good at cunningly organising their packages so people have to pay more.
A simple system of individual pricing for channels, so that people do not feel they are getting ripped off because of all the garbage they are paying for but do not watch, would go a loooooooong way to increasing subscribers to Foxtel. And yes, individual channels would be more expensive this way, but it would still end up cheaper for the average punter. Speaking for myself, I am more than happy to outlay $50/month for Foxtel… as long as I get the channels I want, not the ones I don’t.
Yeah, I have Foxtel but don’t watch it there. Bummer it can’t be on something like Fox8 like many other US shows are (which is part of the basic package -unlike Showtime which is another package on top).
I note that the soho channel on Foxtel is currently showing series 1 of GoT and I have access to that. Just a bummer they couldn’t put the new ones on there too.
Alternatively it is a bummer that one of the free to air networks couldn’t get this. SBS? ABC? Maybe even 9?
Anyway, I do buy the official blu-rays when they released so they do have me supporting them there.
@Sifter
if your not sure why people are downloading GOT instead of watching it on foxtel, maybe you should look at how HBO vs Foxtel actually broadcast.
true 1080p with the bitrate to show it off..
5.1 DTS sound
Commentary Tracks
put it this way… copies of a 1 hour show, were above 10Gb… which is the same size for some HD movies..
Sifter, one of the issues is iTunes doesn’t allow you to own that content, you have a license for it, which can be rescinded for many, many reasons.
If Someone wanted to watch the show in 10 years, they can.
On the solid state drive i use to store TV shows and copies of my BluRays, this is admittedly a legal grey area, but I’m not broadcasting. I am making another copy in case my DVDs are damaged. Movies are now being released with digital copies on the DVD. That is clever.
Not allowing consumers to own the content they buy is the issue. Do Holden prevent you from selling your car? Nope. Can Sony stop you selling DVDs? Nope.
Why should audiovisual content be any different?
(It’s also overpriced for Australia, standard iTunes ripoff)
Everyone that Downloads it illegally will only have themselves to blame when the show gets cancelled like Deadwood because HBO cant justify the money spent on the show for the ratings/revenue made. and those people will make the most noise when its gone.
I have Foxtel with the platinum HD package and my only gripe was that they fix the audio problem it was only in 2.0, and not in DD 5.1 i hope they fix it faster than they did with the Walking dead where it took 3 weeks to fix.
People who dont have Foxtel or dont buy the season Pass from Itunes only have them selves to blame when its gone.
@Brad33 Foxtel have always had the “premium shows” on showcase since they launched showcase in 2006 because they are the only ones that can afford the shows first run prices. because its not like HBO and Showtime in the US are basic cable. they are both premium cable channels that cost about $15PM each on top of the cable bills
Everyone in the office just watched a copy of a download.I’d say up to 30 people watch a copy of one download so the number of viewers is actually way higher than the number of downloads.
Something that’s annoying me about the express screenings on Showcase is that they aren’t being broadcast in 5.1 audio. I have to wait for a later screening in the week to watch it with 5.1.
People are creatures of habit. They’ve gotten used to the idea of downloading the show, so they will continue to do so. I’ve said it on this website previously, but the Australian TV networks (as well as the local distributors for movies) have fostered a generation of downloaders through delayed broadcasts and mistreatment of shows.
In any case, there is actually a very strong argument about downloading Game of Thrones being good for the show. Check out this fantastic video from PBS, which talks about the download effect on Game of Thrones and why the network, creators and stars believe it’s not so bad…
youtube.com/watch?v=0U3RE_NB0EA
Foxtel can’t lower their prices. There just isn’t the population to generate economies of scale and lower the price of the Foxtel/Optus/Austar network they have inherited.
So instead they have chased a premium extremely high margin market with their monopoly. Which is finally paying big dividends.
The NBN may change the economics of TV delivery though.
It is called the inability to delay gratification. You can measure it in small children and it correlates strongly with low educational attainment and low wages later in life.
What is there to be spoiled in GOT?
It is a slow moving carefully plotted drama without silly twists that come by surprise. And it is following scene for scene a book published 13 years ago.
People at the watercooler talk about MKR and The Voice. Though I guess it may be different if you work in IT.
Is there money to be made in an authentic legitimate illegal downloads chart?
No idea what an “authentic legitimate illegal downloads chart” is. If you mean a Top 10 of illegal downloads, then on its own I would say no.
It’s amazing to think that if Foxtel actually increased market penetration instead of decreased as seen over the last couple of years we could see Australian piracy decrease as individuals are paying for STV instead of high download limit Internet services. If this doesn’t scream “If Foxtel reduced their prices they might actually get more subscribers” I don’t know what will.
Don’t forget there was a public holiday on Monday when it aired in the US – I have friends who struggled to wait because they were home all day, whereas on a usual week, they’d be at work, and unable to access a computer until prime time anyway.
Also, iTunes not having the episode until a day later doesn’t help. Those without Foxtel will wait for it to air at 9.30 pm at the latest, then go online to purchase…and if it’s not there, they’ll look to downloads. GoTs biggest asset is that it’s watercooler conversation, and if you can’t watch it until two work days after everyone else, you risk being spoiled or losing the interaction.
I can’t fathom that there are people who are so impatient that they must download the show because the 2 hours they have to wait for it to come on TV is too long. How on earth do they deal with waiting a whole week for the next episode? Their brain’s must explode! And it strikes me that those kind of people would probably already have a way to stream US TV to satisfy their impatience, and if they downloaded the show it would be so they could watch it again, and again.
I think the answer is that most Aussies can’t watch GoT on their TV, and perhaps more importantly they also know that the DVDs won’t be out for a fair while. That to me is the key factor, downloads don’t let you just watch it – but you can save it and watch it whenever you like, or lend it to friends etc. That is the difference – downloading is like having the DVD 6 months early.
this show should be on the Entertainment package. Foxtels very obvious grab for more revenue by putting quality shows like this on a movie channel sucks….
Simple really, unlike the US, subscription TV is a tiny market here. Very few Australians see the value in paying for television content and looking at the Foxtel offerings who can blame them?
I belong to category (b. I am a Foxtel subscriber who does not have Showcase and that is why I have not seen the third season yet.
Therefore expressing Game of Thrones to a channel that I don’t subscribe to does not do anything for me.