Planetarion Forums - Online TV part 2 ;o

pig · 28 Apr 2006, 21:33

Well with my hectic schedule of being a student etc I often miss some of my favourite programs such as The Apprentice, Ideal and Gardners World. But not to worry the bbc allow you to watch them online (they do this with other programs as well btw) Channel 4 had what I can describe as a succesful attempt at online tv with the [b]IT Crowd[b].

Now channel 4 has somewhat upped the ante so to speak. If you visit this url you will see that channel 4 now allow you to watch the first two episodes of Lost season 1 for free, after that each episode will cost 99p. Now as someone who caught about 50% of Lost id be interested in doing this, choosing when and how I watch Lost.

This also signifies perhaps a future trend where not only do we watch tv through convential means instead of sky et al having a monopoly on, on demand tv the bbc, channel 4 and other channels fight back by selling episodes online. The future could be rather interesting with possibly tv being eradicated (although this wont happen I truly believe that in a few years you could quite easily enjoy a lot of content online and legally.

Now your probably thinking why do I put so much emphasis on this legal tv well quite simply im on campus at university which means that I have a great internet connection but I cant actually do anything illegal, ive tried dling torrents etc but a friend of mine had his connection revoked so I stopped. Limewire et al dont work either so this new legal way of watching content suits me perfectly.

Not only that but the legal alternative is a lot more attractive to the majority. The majority including myself get a bit baffled about torrents and all of that. I myself am not a computer newbie but certain things I find hard getting my head around, torrents is a great example. So this alternative offered by channel 4 and bbc is great for me as its easy to use and theres no qualms about it.

Anyway enjoy lost (or at least the first two episodes if your not willing to pay for the rest ;o).

Cannon_Fodder · 28 Apr 2006, 22:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by pig

Well with my hectic schedule of being a student etc I often miss some of my favourite programs such as The Apprentice, Ideal and Gardners World.

Bwahahahahhaha.

ahahahahaha.

aha.

Cannon_Fodder · 28 Apr 2006, 22:08

But yes, I agree with you on the torrent side of things, and as for becoming the future, well so long as they price it right and dont have too much DRM crap, and it works properly etc etc.

Vaio · 28 Apr 2006, 22:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by sniborp

Bwahahahahhaha.

ahahahahaha.

aha.

Cannon_Fodder · 28 Apr 2006, 22:22

Can I just say, I've just tried that url, and its shit.

It says 'To watch the clip, you first need to register with channel4.com'
and underneath 'Register'.

The next line says 'Hi sniborp you are logged in'.

Edit: Found the problem, it only lets IE users view it.

pig · 28 Apr 2006, 22:44

Whats wrong with The Apprentice, Ideal and Gardners World?

wakey · 28 Apr 2006, 22:58

The problem with this type of thing is the cost simply doesnt make it worth it.

At that pricing your paying just under £23 for the season (£25 if the first two episodes werent free) and all your getting is fairly low quality version of the show. Now theres some shows such as sitcoms where the low quality wouldnt be a problem but the visuals are an important part of lost and theres so many hidden clue for you to see planeted in the episodes (in fact even withot a Hidef version of the show and a hd display you miss alot of these things).

Also from what i can tell your restricted from viewing outside of the stream and possible only for a set period of time which means you cant sit and watch it while on the train if you dont have a net connection.

For £29.99 you can go and pick up a the Region 1 DVD release from Movietyme and if you hunt around and are willing to risk import charges you can probally get it even cheaper. ofc your need a Region 1 capable player but most players can be 'hacked' via the remote, juts needs a quick search of google. This will supply you with the best quality out there atm (until ethe hidef dvd's are out) and a load of extras for just a little more. And from this you have the actual media to use how you like.

If you really need the Region 2 ones the cost will probally be more (due to the splitting up of the boxset into 2) but if you hunt around your probally find some deals on them

Even illegal downloaded copies have the paid offerings like this beat, these rips come from hidef sources and Hidef copies are even available if your willing to double the file size

Itunes and other music services have been successful because they have offered a service which while DRM'd to keep control of your use of the music is flexable enough to let you use the music as you want and its at a quality where most people wont notice a differnece from the original media and until the video stores get closer to the music model they are a waste of money and will no doubt struggle to take off

Dante Hicks · 29 Apr 2006, 03:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakey

Even illegal downloaded copies have the paid offerings like this beat, these rips come from hidef sources and Hidef copies are even available if your willing to double the file size

More than double. Our copies of Lost are something like 4 gig per episode. They do look rather nice though.

But yeah, the cost of the episodes don't make it worth your while, especially when compared to the DVD box-sets. But I think in the longer term, once economies of scale kick in, and this sort of thing become more common. I think also the studios are looking at this as an opportunity to sell you both the DVD and the downloaded episodes. Which is understandable from their perspective but a little unrealistic in the longer term.

Tomkat · 29 Apr 2006, 13:30

I think it's better not because you can get Lost for £23, but that websites are starting to realise that money can be made from selling videos online, as they did with music.

I don't like watching films on the computer, but if I did I'd want to pay for them. I don't have a problem with downloading music for free, but I feel wrong with films. Not sure why.

Hopefully this is the first stage of websites providing full length films for purchase online.

Cannon_Fodder · 29 Apr 2006, 14:40

If you could buy episodes and series online, for example, Never Mind the Buzzcocks etc.. I'd pay for it.

wakey · 29 Apr 2006, 15:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tomkat

I think it's better not because you can get Lost for £23, but that websites are starting to realise that money can be made from selling videos online, as they did with music.

I don't like watching films on the computer, but if I did I'd want to pay for them. I don't have a problem with downloading music for free, but I feel wrong with films. Not sure why.

Hopefully this is the first stage of websites providing full length films for purchase online.

Downloading TV shows for free and Downloading movies are imho twi different things.

Most people pay for a TV service already and downloading the TV shows is often little more than taping something off the TV to watch when you want. This is something which copyright law allows us to do as its fair use.

Also while movies will generally be released everywhere in the world alot of quality TV doesnt get aired over here so downloading it isnt making anyone lose out. Having said that its becoming less common in the multi channel society we live in for one of the channels not to pick a show up.

I also know i dont feel quilty downloading TV simply because I missed alot of good shows initially in the past due to TV Scheduals not suiting me or the trailers no capturing my attention. Downloads allow me to sample shows and watch when it suits me, and anything thats decent i end up buying the DVD's of anyway. Most of my TV shows on DVD would never have been bought without downloads.

As for movies, paid for movie downloads are already here. If you subscribe to Sky Movies you have access to their free download service and Lovefilm lets you download to keep or rent a fairly good selection of movies from universal. This includes King King and Serenity

The Buy to keep option of this service seems petty good too. It costs £20 for a movie. This gets you a super high quality download copy, a lowe quality version for a Portable media deveice such as the Creative Zen M and a copy of the DVD will arrive in the post a few days later. This imho is how they all should be because rather than forcing you to buy the dvd, a download copy, a portable media device copy all seperate you get all of them for one price