I got an infringement notice for downloading Stargate: Atlantis! MGM doesn't want people downloading their stuff, which when Channel 7 doesn't want to show it, is basically the equivalent of MGM not wanting people to watch their stuff.

Here is my reply to them

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Hey folks, sorry for any trouble I have caused. The Stargate Atlantis files have been deleted.

That said, I would appreciate it if MGM could bring pressure on the TV networks that own the rights to their product to give it, and the people who wish to view it, some respect. Channel 7 in Australia is not only well behind on the series, but when they do show it, they will tend to change timeslots and days with no notice, and will regularly take it off the air for weeks at a time.

As you will understand, people become frustrated with this treatment, and so turn to downloading. Other series I watch are shown on different channels, and they treat their viewers with more respect. Episodes are shown weekly, seldom pre-empted, and most of the other channels are only a month or two behind the US at most.

Currently Channel 7 Australia hasn't even begun showing season four of Stargate Atlantis, a series which is halfway through it's fifth season. When this is happening, of course people will download. If the series is shown in a timely fashion, there is no need to download at all.

As a fan and collector with well over 1,000 commercially bought and legitimate DVDs, if I like a film or TV show, I buy it. I won't buy a series I haven't seen. And thanks to Channel 7, and this action (which is fair enough, I've no complaints about your handling of this, nor MGM wishing to protect their rights), I will now no longer be seeing Stargate Atlantis, and so will be unlikely to purchase season five when it becomes available - I have enough shows competing for my money that I won't buy something I haven't seen in full.

I doubt that I am alone in this. So, if MGM would like to cut down on illegal downloads, and potentially sell more DVDs in Australia, they are way more likely to get results by pressuring Channel 7 than stopping individuals.

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I *may* be wrong about season four having not been shown, but I certainly haven't found anything to contradict that.

While I have a limited DVD budget, I have a list of shows I will be buying. Enterprise Season 4, Supernatural, Battlestar Galactica (I'm waiting for the show to finish so I can buy the box set), Middleman, The Sarah Jane Adventures, The Mighty Boosh - all of which I have seen through downloading, all of which I will be buying legitimate copies of because I downloaded them, or were given downloaded copies of them.

Preventing me from downloading these shows would mean that I would not be likely to want to buy them. Which would work out fine really, because I have so many, many other shows and films that I want to buy.

So who really loses out? Not the people who would do illegal copies anyway, and does anyone think this would stop them? I may not get to see a show that I would like, but I have lots of good shows to watch already, so no loss there.

All it really means is the network ends up with no chance of getting my cash.

Glad they don't need it.

From: [identity profile] ozdragonlady.livejournal.com

I would imagine that ..


the reasons for not showing US material are largely - there is a restrictions on the percentage of OS material they can show (as in, their licence mandates x% Aus content) and Stargate competes for time with all the other attractive OS material they buy the rights to
and - the US material is fscking expensive.

And timeslots .. whilst we might find Stargate riveting, unfortunately the carp they put on in family timeslots attracts more watchers and thus more advertising funds. A lot of it is made in Aus - under even more expensive licences. They pay $xmillions for the privilege of making Deal or no Deal, Who Wants to be a Millionaire, etc.

All of which means I dont watch much tv these days. Especially now we are going into "Xmas mode".

From: [identity profile] dalekboy.livejournal.com

Re: I would imagine that ..


Actually, starting with channel 9, lot of the major stations discovered that sci-fi rates really well in Australia, so if you put it on late, you can charge prime time, or near prime time rates to advertisers. So basically, they get extra income from sf that they wouldn't otherwise get.

Not all shows do this well of course.

The thing is, 7 has a dreadful track record even with its own product. They made the decision not to have Roy and HG on the Olympics this year due to the time difference - they felt they would have had to show it at a time that didn't work for them. Given how well they've rated in the past, wouldn't pre-recording it and showing it at a decent timeslot still work?

Like you, we don't really watch much TV these days. I'm quite happy to sit through commercials, but I'll be damned if I'm going to have to consistently wade through a half-hour or even hour overrun of a show I don't like, only to have the show I was waiting for canceled. Then there's the other issues I mentioned.

Commercial TV is in the early days of learning a harsh lesson, they just don't know it yet. And companies like MGM also need to learn that the more people who watch their product, in any form, the better. Since a percentage of those people will ending up owning it legitimately.

Christmas is usually the time of the obscure, short run shows. You can find some gems late at night, if you're lucky.

From: [identity profile] ariaflame.livejournal.com

Re: I would imagine that ..


Channel Ten however has concluded that all the geeks who watch SF will have the latest equipment and moved most if not all of their SF to the HD only channels.
.

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