TIMES ARE CHANGING!!

Not sure how anyone would be able to factor in DVR recordings and frankly if there exists a way to gather that much detail about one's private doings I'm not confident that this is a good thing. ABC hasn't handed down a verdict at this point, ergo a detached view may be the wisest course of action.

This is a very interesting post to me - I am a Jericho fan and have watched that phenomenon all the way thru and indeed it was Jericho that totally changed my tv viewing in many ways. But it is the internet that is the catalyst of this. The internet has changed tv viewing even more drastically than the advent of the vcr.

I live in Australia and do not have cable tv in my house. Previously I relied on my tv watching from free-to-air tv networks of which there are five main ones in Australia. These networks have, for many years now, totally frustrated and annoyed me! Shows that I have adored and been a faithful fan of, are constantly being taken off with no notice, or having their timeslot pushed back to some ungodly hour of the night or early morning. Now, with the internet, I can quickly ascertain what the exact status of these shows are. I can find out if they've been cancelled in the US, if they're on hiatus, when new episodes will be available, when the new season starts etc. Keep in mind that MOST of the shows I watch are made in America and are simply sold to the networks in Australia to show whenever they please.

Many times Australians would see a show months, or even years, later than the US audience. That is gradually starting to change with Australian networks realising that Aussie viewers are simply NOT going to wait for them to view shows. Aussie viewers have other means at their disposal! As do other viewers all round the world. We have the internet! It was Jericho that first brought home to me how simple it all was because I loved the show - was obsessed by it in fact - and when the Australian Network Ten cancelled the show here, I HAD to have my episodes, and as a participating member of a few Jericho message boards, I HAD to have them as close as possible to the time that my US counterparts were getting them in order to discuss episodes. Hence, the downloading phenomenon.

But here is the dilemma. Many times, I have to illegally download a show simply because its not available through any legal means. A network in America might stream a show to ppl in Amercia the day after they show it on TV - they did this with Jericho - BUT they don't allow folk from other countries to view this material. With Jericho they made it available on iTunes for a small fee, but with many other shows they don't do this. As far as I know, October Road has not been available on iTunes and has never been shown on Australian tv, unless it has been on a cable network. Don't know if EVERYONE in the States has cable, but here, its still reasonably common for ppl to not have it. Plus Aussie cable has nowhere near the amount of stations that yours does, and I don't know what your costs are for cable but here, if you wanted all the networks available it would cost you at least one hundred dollars a month.

So the problem is this. I love LOTS of tv shows. And I get kind of fanatical about my fav shows. But I now RARELY watch tv shows actually on tv! I watch nearly all my shows either on my computer after I've downloaded them, either legally or illegally, or I watch them after they have come out on DVD. I am a big tv drama series watcher - huge in fact. But I'm guessing that my way of watching is getting counted the least, and if I'm illegally downloading then naturally I'm not giving the makers of the show any income so why would they want to count me? Right? But if thats the only way to get a particular show, then what else can you do?

I also buy ALOT of my dvd tv series directly from Amazon in Region 1 even though Australia is Region 4 - I have a multi region dvd player. I do this because usually the shows are released on dvd EARLIER in the States than in Australia and I don't want to wait! So there are many OTHER avenues open to me to watch the shows I want to watch WHEN I want to watch them, but I don't think the networks are properly cashing in on this. They are antiquated in their methods both of rating and how they get their product out there, and especially in relation to the rest of the world. I think they need to be thinking more globally rather than just in America. There's a pretty big audience out here in the rest of the world - an audience that COULD be making alot more money for them if they would just cater to us a little more. They used to make money selling their product to overseas networks - they still do that of course and make some money out of it, but I'm thinking they could make more money selling direct to the individual. The networks are gradually changing - times are changing! - but it feels like we're having to drag them there by their toenails! They need to get with it!

I really want to support the networks that make good shows so that they continue to make good shows, but they need to get their acts together and realise that the traditional way of watching television has changed entirely and will be continuing to change, so if they want to continue to make a profit - and avoid the wrath of fans sending them millions of nuts! - they need to be constantly changing too.

Sorry to be so long winded but this post grabbed my attention as its something I've been thinking about for quite some time. October Road is just one of many shows that I've really enjoyed - on my computer, not on my tv!

Cheers,
Lady Imrahil