torrentfreak.com — Half of the people who use BitTorrent do so to download TV-shows. Some episodes of popular shows such as ‘Heroes’ and ‘Lost’ get up to 10 million downloads. We had a chat with Jesse Alexander, the co-producer of both ‘Heroes’ and ‘Lost’, and asked him what his thoughts are on BitTorrent, piracy and the future of TV.
Jul 2, 2008 View in Crawl 4
rassaJul 2, 2008
Pretty good article. Goes to show that the TV networks are not tapping into a huge market. Would you guys download an official torrent from major studios if it was same quality as current DRM free pairated stuff with limited ads? Say on par with hulu? I know for a fact I would.
faithclubdotnetJul 3, 2008
I'm a very big Heroes fan. Good television contrasts so much with the garbage television that it makes your mind reel.
tyrghastJul 3, 2008
I wouldn't have bought The Office, BSG or Heroes dvd's without first torrenting a few episodes to figure out if I liked the show. I don't have cable but I used to. I have internet access and I seem to prefer the on-demand programming of the Internet.
vagarachJul 3, 2008
Even the abc.com ads aren't that annoying, I watched an episode like that while in the US, and it was just fine--flash player was a resource hog, but it worked fine, and I didn't mind the ads, but on TV, I DO mind them.Ads just make me feel dumb when I watch them, dunno about you guys.
doublej42Jul 3, 2008
I would love to have a legal version with adds, Assuming it was in xvid or divx as I like to edit the video content I download. What I really want is the ability to pay $60 for the right to download it legally in xvid or divx 720p and then 1 year later get mailed the DVD box set. I buy most of my stuff on dvd after it comes out and then the DVD sits on my shelf in shrink wrap.Also I'm in Canada and can't use HULU or any legal download service (including ITUNES).
Closed AccountJul 3, 2008
It's the lack of a price tag that drives people to piracy. It's not having to walk through thingies that set off alarms.
kyeetzaJul 3, 2008
If you're paying for TV service, I don't consider torrenting Television shows piracy. There is no 'you must watch commercials' clause in cable/satelite company contracts. I work nights, so I'm not home to watch most of the prime-time shows. I don't have the money to pay for a DVR. Currently there is no way to legally obtain TV shows in HD, DRM free without commercials. I'm already being shafted by paying for a ton of channels that I don't watch or like. I don't really feel bad for downloading something I've paid for already.
gizzaJul 3, 2008
Here in Australia it can be several years before we get shows because our TV stations wait to see what's popular in the US first. For example we're only now just getting Dexter, but I've already seen the first 2 seasons.Then we get shows like That 70s' Show which ran for 7 or so seasons but obviously wasn't popular enough in the last few so we only ever got up to season 5 on TV.I now only watch TV to either watch sport, or stream from my PC.
spetzJul 3, 2008
Wow, someone that actually has a clue about why there's so much piracy on BitTorrent. It's because people in Europe don't get access to the media at the same time as the people in the US. In the age of the internet, that's just asking for piracy.The most retarded thing I've seen in a while is that the movie studios are not doing a worldwide release of The Dark Knight. Not releasing a hyped up movie like that at the same time globally? That's just asking for piracy. I hope the movie studios don't' have the cheek to complain about piracy after that retarded decision.
peppinoJul 3, 2008
Hulu.com is the answer to BitTorrent madness.