TV Cultures Concept

In week 6 the concept of active audiences was brought up in the lecture in week 6 and to an extent I have discussed this topic as part of my presentation but there is one particular element that I have not spoken about yet.

The link between active audiences and piracy is quite interesting as opposed to waiting for local providers to distribute certain material; more ‘active’ members of the viewing public might opt for piracy instead. Mark Pesce argues that “Audiences are technically savvy these days; they can and will find a way to get any television programming they desire.– they just want to watch it. Now” (Pesce, 2005). As these members of the audience are engaging in an illegal activity it is perhaps not as black and white as some research suggests. Joe Karaganis claims that “What we know usually begins, and often ends, with industry sponsored research” (Karaganis, 2011, p.1). This shows a clear biased in the research presented as it understandable for these industries to want to eradicate piracy but there are more factors at play that can lead an individual to piracy. Karaganis points out some of these reasons as he writes “From multinational pricing strategies, to international trade agreements, to the waves of technological diffusion that are transforming cultural communities” (Karaganis, 2011, p.1). What can be certain is that not every county has the same factors that lead people of that nation to pirate these shows.

Australia’s piracy levels is among the highest in the world and the main argument for such a high level is the industrial/provider practices that are responsible for the slow release of foreign (mainly American) material in Australia. Graham Spencer highlights how out of date the Australian model really is as he says “House of Cards Season 2 did air within a day of its US release, except Foxtel aired just one episode a week” (Spencer, 2014). House of Cards being a Netflix original, on its original platform it is released all at once but it can’t be done of Foxtel is the platform it’s being shown on. What Spencer wrote is one year old and Australia has gone from one Video on Demand service to four, in the form of Netflix, Presto, Stan, and the longest running VoD in Australia Quickflix. The House of Cards issue is now resolved since it has made Netflix its new home but that is not quite true for Netflix’s other highly rated show Orange is the New Black. While it is no Netflix it simultaneously aired its new season on Foxtel as well, week by week. This was unexpected considering Netflix and Foxtel are direct competitors and will be interesting to see if happens for the next season or maybe it was just a final condition from their previous agreement. Whatever happens next it will be interesting to see of all these Video on Demand services will prove to be a legal option for consumers that previously relied on piracy to access their shows. What also has to be taken into account when gathering these statistics is the impact that Copyright Amendment (Online Infringement) Act 2015 or more commonly known as the anti-piracy law will have on Australian pirates. It can prove to be a useful study to determine what the best method is to deal with Australia’s high levels of piracy. Whether it will be the heavy handed tactics by the Australian government or the rise of Video on Demand services on Australian shores, one thing is for certain, how Australians access their content will change for the better or the worst depending on the outcome of this experiment.

Bibliography

Karaganis, J, 2011, “Piracy and Enforcement in the Global Perspective” in Media Piracy in Emerging Economies, Lulu.com, pp.1-5.

Pesce, M, 2005, “Piracy is Good.” in New Models for the Distribution of Television Programming, Hyperreal.com, viewed 17 October 2015 <http://hyperreal.org/~mpesce/piracyisgood.pdf>

Spencer, G, 2014, Watching TV in Australia the Australian Delay Under the Microscope, Reconer.com, viewed 17 October 2015 <http://reckoner.com.au/2014/07/watching-tv-in-australia-the-australian-delay-under-the-microscope/>

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