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How Battlestar Galactica Killed Broadcast TV

mindjack.com — This article talks about battlestar galactica on bittorent. It's an old article, but very interesting and worth reading

Who dugg this? Made popular Mar 11, 2006

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  • Stelmate, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Here is how they make money:
    I started battle star by watching a few episodes I got from the torrent, I liked it so much I went out and bought both box sets, than I set my DVR and am recording every new episode. Hell, I may even buy some memorabilia. Also, I showed my wife the torrents and now she is a fan too, told some of my friends etc.. Same way I started out on firefly as well. If your series is good peer-to-peer can only help your media campaign.
  • szelij, on 10/12/2007, -3/+12Very interesting read. As for a media distribution model there is still a problem, how to make money off it. You cannot charge customers for it because then they'd just download it for free. BUT if broadcasters can make money through advertisements, perhaps producers could too? Afterall its a MUCH bigger audience...and there'd be very little overhead distribution costs.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+11I talked ***** about the show for the first season. Then I actually got bored at work and downloaded the entire first season and watched it. No commercials. No nothing. I pay $130 for my Digital Cable subscription every month, so I don't feel bad about it.

    Anyway, I watched that first season in the office. Since then, I have made sure to watch every single episode the night it comes out (or at worst, tivo it). If it hadn't been for Bit Torrent, I never would have known how amazing the show was and they wouldn't have gained another loyal fan.

    And . . . holy ***** what a season finale. I can't fracking wait until October!

    Rescue Me, The Shield, Over There and Battle Star Galactica are the only shows really worth watching these days. Too bad they didn't give Far Scape the same sort of leniency they are to these shows (and the Stargate dual series which seem to be unfairly lasting forever while Farscape gets ***** in the ass by history).
  • BassCadet, on 10/12/2007, -1/+9LOL there are SIX THOUSAND seeders and TWENTY THREE THOUSAND peers for the season finale bittorrent. rotflmao.

    Has anybody ever seen a BT file with more downloaders/uploaders than that?
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -4/+12That's Fracking Awesome
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10Stick it on iTunes. Charge me 50 cents for it. Make it HIGH quality so I can watch it on something other than my ***** ipod. Let me keep it indefinitely, like I can with music (not just 24 hours or one viewing!).

    I'd watch every episode via iTunes that way. A buck is too steep. 50 cents seems about right. And of course, no commercials.
  • cambrown99, on 10/12/2007, -0/+7After last night's excellent season finale that sent the show into a completely unexpected direction, I can't understand why every person on the planet isn't watching this show any way they can get it!
  • mtallen, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Illegal downloading is what built this shows fan base, and in the end has made it as popular as it is now. Without bittorrents This show would never have gotten to the range of people it currently has. Of course the show has to meet a certain bar in quality in order for this to happen. I wonder how many people first watched this based on word of mouth from friends? I know I saw my first episodes via torrent, and then started telling everyone about it. When season 1 DVD's came out we rushed out and bought the box and have made all of our friends watch it. Those 4 or 5 downloads I did early on have translated into at least 6 households by season 1 and 2 DVD's and being religous about the show. The Show runners (Ron Moore and Co.) know this, I think SCI-FI realizes it. Out of those 20k+ peers this morning I bet that 75% of them will buy the DVD set when it comes out.
  • Aeiri, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7"As for a media distribution model there is still a problem, how to make money off it. You cannot charge customers for it because then they'd just download it for free."

    Yeah, you can't charge customers for games, movies, or music either because they'd just download it for free. That's why we don't have ANY money coming in to the entertainment industry.

    Just think about what you said for a moment, and come back when you regrow your brain stem.

    EDIT: Also, in response to Seumas, if they remove the DRM, then we'll talk :)
  • BassCadet, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5A whole lot of words and not enough data.

    I bittorrent every episode of that show but I am also a paid subscriber to Sci-Fi Channel. Why? Because I can never remember to actually sit down and watch it when it airs.
  • --c3--, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6ive seen this. worth reading and downloading the video
  • THMike, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4That's exactly how it works. I discovere Battlestar Galactica, Firefly and Lost from torrents, and I bought the DVD boxset of all of them (plus Serenity, which I saw in the Theater and now own on DVD).
  • Useless, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Best show ever..... :D
  • RetroActive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4people still use bit torrents? i get my battlestar fix every friday night a few hours after it airs from usenet. its the only tv show i watch, and i watch it every week. going to be ruff waiting till october for season 3 to start up.
  • harpdog, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I purchased the mini series and season1 on DVD as a result of torrenting the mini series. I hope season 2 comes out on DVD real soon.
  • Everman, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Last night's episode was Fracking Awsome, Baltar ran everything into the ground but I think Adama has been planning this for the past year, just waiting for the cylons to come. Something's up....and lets not forget about the cylon/human hybrid baby.

    Also rumor has it BSG might be moving to NBC (They own SciFi).
  • xNaquada, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3I always watch the SCi-FI friday line up from the net, because I dont get sci-fi. (Live in Canada)

    Also there is no problems with quality on the scene xvid releases out (and a proper is quick to follow when there rarely is), and I think we all know that.

  • Hawk4, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Unfortunately, you're asking too much. There's no way they'd cut commercials. However, since you'd be downloading a whole file, it would be a simple matter to simple skip them.
  • matts0344, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4If you have sci-fi I don't see whats wrong with downloading the show, I mean, you can record it if you had a VCR or a PVR so whats the difference?
  • jlawson1, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5I frackin' agree
  • Graphixaddict, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3good point, my buddy got into Lost off the torrents, but then went and bought the first season box set.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Wow, whos have thunk it that us Aussies are the most "profligate downloaders" of this type of content!
    Guess we just don't like waiting when the rest of the frigging world gets EVERYTHING before us :(
  • emperortomato, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3"Illegal downloading is what built this shows fan base"

    Normally I would say you were silly but since I came to the show thru bittorrent, and it looks like several other posters are telling the same story, who knows. There might be some truth in that.

    I'll probably pick up the box set when they put one together.
  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Yeah, that's not going to work. They'll have to dumb it down, most likely.

    Not to mention, how can you just move a show in the middle of its series? All those people who don't watch Sci-Fi will be two seasons behind and not have a clue what the ***** is going on.

    Remember, the average television watcher spends their time watching The OC and American Idol. They are not exactly science fiction fans.
  • jafojsharp, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I am fracking downloading the last episode right now!
  • eyepodder, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Yes BSG is the best show on TV.. I'm in Canada and we can't get the Scifi channel, we have Space which is
    showing ep 8 or 9 tonight. They are months behind and I can't wait that long..

    I think Baltar is dreaming. Remember he feel asleep and woke up and a year had passed. Then the cyclon came. I think he dreaming the whole thing and when the human race is finally killed off he will wake up and say we are leaving and not staying here realizing they will be found. Almost like a vision..


  • BassCadet, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I would, but Galactica is the only show on TV that I have ever been interested in watching.
  • phpirate, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2TV is stupid now. I download from BT for two reasons: First, no advertising. Second, I can choose when I want to watch my favourite shows.
  • MonkeyBoy87, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The fundamental reason is that content is often licensed by region. In canada its even worse. Season 1 finished on sky, was half way over in the USA and wasnt even starting yet in Canada. People are grabbing it on torrent simply because its not available anywhere else. if I could get it off itunes in canada I would (its on itunes usa which i can't purchase from ARRRRGHHH!).

    I know if I wait i can get it on DVD but that's so 5 minutes ago in the age of the internet. the content providers need to realize that they need to realize that they are going ot have to start doing simultaneous world wide releases to make money because of the reach of the internet. the providers are going to need to realize that people will pay and only for the immediacy of access, not for the "value" of the show.
  • GentlemanFox, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3good on you. i needed to read this.
  • TheOtherGuy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2hey - some of us haven't seen it yet :P
  • Graphixaddict, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3its easy....the broadcasters just have to pirate themselves befor anyone else does...what i mean is that as the episode is being shown on TV they should be releasing it on the internet WITH the commercials included....i think when most people look for a torrent they look which has the most seeds ... so...if im a broadcaster id setup like 20 seeding computers all with the same file with the commercials included and release it just befor or just as the episode airs on TV. The way you could really hook people is to supply maybe some writers commentary at the end, or bonus footage that isnt shown on tv. etc...it would take people a while to re-rip the video without the commercials and by then the original should have a decent amount of seeders and leachers to sustain itself above the rest.
    B
  • detrate, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The video is a very well done presentation, worth watching if you haven't yet!
  • LuCiFer6, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2If I remember right, I think SCI-FI themeselves offered a chance to either download or watch the Seson One Finale on their site.
  • TheOtherGuy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2We Aussies get totally stiffed by our networks. Shows that don't perform brilliantly within 2 weeks of their premiere get axed or sent to Coventry in the wee small hours of the morning.

    I was surprised Channel 10 broadcast BSG in the first place - but their apparent reluctance to show Season 2 accounts for the huge amount of Australian BT traffic for this show. I would hazard that the number of people who download BSG in Australia would be EQUAL OR GREATER to the people who would watch it on television. Legitimizing the BT process would be a boon for the shows producers.
  • krugzilla, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I'm just about to sit down and watch it on my PVR. I can't wait!
  • Kolar, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It won't be long before we see Admiral Adama sipping a diet coke on his bridge or Lee using head and sholders in the shower so I don't see this as a problem, market whoring of TV Shows will be soon enough!

  • inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3The Season 2 Finale was simply amazing. I can't wait to watch it again.
  • infra172, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Lol. He thinks video downloads began with Battlestar Galactica. What a loser.
  • LoTek, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I'm really happy to see an article on this from folks trying to adapt to our behaviour rather than prevent it.

    All efforts by the entertainment industry so far seem to be focused on slapping down an audience that is craving content. We've established the rules; it WILL be free, we WILL watch what we want when we want, and if you don't give us the media on our terms WE WILL TAKE IT.

    This breaks the current broadcast revenue model. But the money is still there. Well, your in business, you figure out how to make money off it. If you can't, then you're an irrelevant dinosaur who isn't selling anything the audience wants. Work with the audience and live up to it's expectations, or we ain't buying.

    I bittorrent BSG because I don't want to wait six months to see it on TV. That said, it's generated over $100 in DVD purchases from me. Sci-Fi's revenues aren't being hurt by bittorrent, they're making money hand over fist on it. This requires a huge leap of faith on the part of the networks. But, quite frankly, tryinig to stop it isn't doing a damn bit of good - so why not?

    "The (g)eek shall inherit the earth"
    -some hippy guy
  • TheWriteGuy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Maybe it's not as geeky a show -- but I first got hooked on Veronica Mars last season after I decided to bittorrent its first few episodes on a lark to see if it was interesting. If not for bittorrent, I would not be the loyal viewer of the show now -- I watch it either broadcasted live or recorded.
  • jnorris441, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2That's how I watched the first season (before it aired in the US.)

    I tried to tell my friends how awesome it was and they thought I was on crack.
  • kylebrothert, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2It's funny.. He titles it "how battlestar gallactica killed broadcast tv." Then, he explains how it helped broadcast tv. But then, he explains why it really killed it. Very well written, with clear thought.
  • shoeshine, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This was posted on digg a long time ago.
  • hotani, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Exactly - the MPAA and TV companies need to realize this can be a money-making deal. I would pay for an all-you-can-eat subscription service through a website set up by the corps if it had A) excellent selection of movies and TV shows and B) high quality downloads. I don't think I'm alone either - others would pay for that. A bonus would be if the service included a TiVo-like 'season pass' for TV shows so they are automatically added to the torrent feed.

    Why not? And I'm as opposed to DRM as the next guy, but if they put something on it similar to the iTunes store then I think I could live with it. After all, I don't actually want to keep all of these shows - what's the point if they are always available? Why stock pile several GB of shows and movies you're not watching when it's always available via download?
  • VStrider, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2First of, Battlestar Galactica is awesome.

    Now about the article, I agree with what he says, but holywood and TV stations are afraid of this distribution model. And that's _not_ because it's unknown territory, new tech and all that.

    Why? Well, a TV Station has a certain value and this value plays a major role in determining the price for ads on the said station. Now, not all shows are as good as BG. Infact, most of them are pure crap. Junk TV. Regardless, adverts on a crap program are still expensive, especially if the station is a popular one. So basically a TV station only needs 1 or 2 good shows at most, to get the high ratings, and they can fill the rest of the schedule with cheap but highly profitable junk TV.

    So they are afraid of this model cause junk TV wouldn't cut it. The awesome BG spread like fire on p2p networks, but try to find "celebrities in the jungle" or "house relocations" or other similar crap. Yep, you won't. TV stations would need quality programs, not the junk they're serving us every day, thus they'd need to spend more money. Holywood is worried too, cause crap films would lose their value faster than you can say "Titanic". On today's distribution methods, they really see profits from junk films.
  • kylebrothert, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3"Stick it on iTunes. Charge me 50 cents for it."

    You're still not getting it! After one person pays the fifty cents, and puts it on bit-torrent, everyone else gets it for free. The goal is to find a way to make money when that happens. All you're doing is exchanging SciFi Channel for iTunes. You not solving the actual problem.
  • mrnitrate, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3BSG and Stargate SG-1 ROCK!!
    LONG LIVE SCI-FI
  • cfazzini, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Psh... check out some of the popular animes... Naruto or Full Metal Alchemist when they were running. Usually in the 60-70k leechers.
  • tkking2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1i think it would be "Fracking" i am not sure though
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