Well these days you can usually get VCD's that will play in the DVD player. Most of the last season of Buffy and Angel I watched this way. I can transcode DivX's at a push but you may notice degridation. At some point I mayt get a new DVD player that supports DivX or maybe even the Haupage MVP.
However, the reason that Farscape got cancelled was because the ratings went down. Downloading episodes from the net does not register in the ratings. I choose not only to watch my favourite programmes but to do so in a way that can be registered.
Now I say this, you'll probably inform me that the UK does not register ratings or something. I don't care - the principle stands.
I also prefer to watch stuff as its comes to the TV. Then buy it on DVD if I really like the programme.
Yes and No. What I watch doesn't impact the ratings as its not recorded anywhere. I've paid up my Sky subscription so the income is still going to the channels that commission the programes.
But your right of course, I should wait for the UK release. However the TV companies could help by not having this artificial staggered release. Its not like the Sci-Fi channel has a packed schedule at the moment. Ideally I'd be able to go to the Sci-Fi Channel/Makers of Farscape and give them my credit card details and download the episodes as they become available. However that will require some new thinking from the media conglomerates.
Technically, watching the program does not register in the ratings. The magic ratings boxes are not actually installed in every TV sold. They take a group of random houses representing a cross section of the community and ask them to take part, and them multiply this randomly until they have a figure approaching what they assume to be an accurate proportion of the population. At least, AFAIK.
So the only real way to push the ratings up (short of getting into the ratings sample yourself) is to be part of a demographic who is statistically likely to watch it anyway, which I'm doing already. So by being part of the demographic who's eager enough to watch it that he goes out of his way to download it in advance, Alex is more than doing his bit.
This is why we are starting to see music charts based on (legal) music downloads. The companies have realised they are missing out on the non-mainstream teenager who doesn't buy singles from HMV.
Put it this way. If the distribution model allowed me to pre-order the next season of Farscape (say give them my CC details and they will charge me when its released) how much quicker would the descision to make the next season be made?
I don't think preorders would ever replace broadcast figures for that kind of decision (especially as executives would argue that people who preorder SF TV shows are very much a niche market and not indicative of the viewing public as a whole - yes, even SciFi Channel executives use this reasoning).
But yeah, it might give them a certain amount of encouragement.
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Re: Yay!
Date: 2004-10-13 01:31 am (UTC)I tend to prefer to see these things for the first time on a TV screen rather than a PC monitor ... but yeah, keep me up to date.
Re: Yay!
Date: 2004-10-13 01:57 am (UTC)Re: Yay!
Date: 2004-10-13 03:25 am (UTC)I choose not only to watch my favourite programmes but to do so in a way that can be registered.
Now I say this, you'll probably inform me that the UK does not register ratings or something. I don't care - the principle stands.
I also prefer to watch stuff as its comes to the TV. Then buy it on DVD if I really like the programme.
Re: Yay!
Date: 2004-10-13 03:35 am (UTC)But your right of course, I should wait for the UK release. However the TV companies could help by not having this artificial staggered release. Its not like the Sci-Fi channel has a packed schedule at the moment. Ideally I'd be able to go to the Sci-Fi Channel/Makers of Farscape and give them my credit card details and download the episodes as they become available. However that will require some new thinking from the media conglomerates.
Re: Yay!
Date: 2004-10-13 03:39 am (UTC)Re: Yay!
Date: 2004-10-13 03:38 am (UTC)So the only real way to push the ratings up (short of getting into the ratings sample yourself) is to be part of a demographic who is statistically likely to watch it anyway, which I'm doing already. So by being part of the demographic who's eager enough to watch it that he goes out of his way to download it in advance, Alex is more than doing his bit.
Or something.
Re: Yay!
Date: 2004-10-13 03:46 am (UTC)This is why we are starting to see music charts based on (legal) music downloads. The companies have realised they are missing out on the non-mainstream teenager who doesn't buy singles from HMV.
Put it this way. If the distribution model allowed me to pre-order the next season of Farscape (say give them my CC details and they will charge me when its released) how much quicker would the descision to make the next season be made?
Re: Yay!
Date: 2004-10-13 03:54 am (UTC)But yeah, it might give them a certain amount of encouragement.