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Report: Aussies spend $257m in movie & TV downloads

Which ISP users spend more on legal downloads?

Fixed Broadband customers who buy Movie or TV downloads in a three month period

Australians are willing to pay for movie and TV downloads legally, to the tune of an estimated $257m over a 12 month period, according to new research.

With Australian ISPs now blocking customers from a number of piracy websites Roy Morgan Research looked at whose customers are most likely to pay for their downloads.

1.45 million Australians aged 14+ buy movies and TV show downloads online in an average three month period -an estimated $257 million combined in the 12 months to September 2016.

Among customers of the top five fixed broadband providers, Dodo’s are the most likely to purchase movies and TV shows for download (10.9%), ahead of those with Telstra (10.4%), Optus (9.4 %), and iiNet (8.4%). Only 6.7% of TPG users pay for any downloaded movies or TV shows in an average three months.

Michele Levine, CEO – Roy Morgan Research, says: “The Federal Court at the end of last year ordered all Australian internet service providers to block their customers from accessing websites used to download copyrighted content for free.

“Australians have reportedly long been among the world’s biggest offenders when it comes to piracy. Having consumers blocked from specific ‘torrenting’ sites is a victory for copyright holders and broadcasters—but as other sites and proxies spring up, it may soon become a game of whack-a-mole.

“With this potentially only short-term barrier now in place, rights holders should take this opportunity to convince pirates to become payers. The rapid take-up of Subscription Video On Demand services such as Netflix and Stan shows that Australians are more than happy to pay for content. A long-term solution will need to include carrots as well as sticks, based on a comprehensive understanding of current paying downloaders.

“Roy Morgan’s latest research finds that 1.45 million Australians pay for movie or TV show downloads, to the tune of over a quarter of a billion dollars last year. Of course, the true value of all the content downloaded is likely much higher. In order to judge the effectiveness of the new law in combatting piracy, it will be vital for copyright holders (and ISPs eager to curb further orders to block, report on or divulge information about their customers) to monitor the incidence and expenditure of content downloads over the coming years.”

Source: Roy Morgan Single Source, October 2015 – September 2016, sample = 8,895 Australians aged 14+ with fixed broadband.

4 Responses

  1. With FTA a bit hot and cold about broadcasting up to date overseas shows the problem with pirating should not be a surprise. Netflix have certainly gone some way to changing the culture with a reasonable priced option but generally Pay TV is still playing politics with it’s content, especially Foxtel. All these sources have taken their subscribers for granted, due mostly I suspect to Australia’s low consumer base which tends to make us a second class customer to countries with a larger market.

  2. It’s all about disposable income, $257m spent on movie downloads means less for DVD rentals/sales. I notice that JB’s floor space for DVD’s is slowly being taken over by white goods and that cinema prices are rising. Winners and losers.
    By way of comparison, we gave just under $5 billion to FTA in 2016.
    55 internet sites are currently blocked and a further 300 pirate sites are expected to be blocked this year, so next years survey results will be interesting.

    1. Manufacturers are not giving up on consumer goods like disks and new technology to play them. Dolby Vision is currently trying to muscle in with cinema standard Technicolor and movies made especially for the format. Sony and others are offering the same thing.

    2. They may have blocked 55, but a simple google search will easily show you how to get around the blocks. The rights holders are fighting a losing battle. Anyone who is actually serious about downloading shows illegally doesn’t even use “torrents” anymore…. one word.. newsgroups.. this blocking of sites is just a bandaid fix.

      Show the programs in line with their US/UK/Other broadcast, in consistent time slots and the piracy level will truely drop.

      Another option is to make the shows available for a reasonable cost on a streaming service. $10 for Netflix or Stan is great, yet iTunes/google play still want to charge $33 for 10 episodes of Westworld or $40 for a season of Suits. Or $20 to “buy” a movie and $7 to “rent” it. That’s just out of touch.

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