collaborative effort to build our pitch to content owners
your comments on the Hulu situation post inspired us to get users involved in building our pitch to content owners as to why they should embrace boxee.
we created a wiki page that anyone can edit. we will use this pitch when meeting with media companies to show that we understand their concerns and that the opportunity that boxee represents is greater than the perceived threat.
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Keep fighting the Good Fight!
I will adopt something like Boxee ASAP no matter what the bigwigs do. Satellite TV is a ridiculously clunky and expensive service, and Comcast operates with towering arrogance. The Comcast cable boxes I am forced to use today are inferior in components and interface to what I used on other cable systems 10 years ago. It provides only a few hours of programming information at a time–how the hell am I supposed to record future programs? VOD is unavailable at peak demand times due to systemwide capacity constraints. Channels that are included as standard on other systems–SciFi, National Geographic, Science, ESPNews, many many more–require extra dollars per month on Comcast. And it’s impossible to hide channels you don’t want to see, whether it’s shopping channels or porn. My daughters wanted to know what “America’s Biggest Gang Bang” meant when I was searching for “America’s Funniest Home Videos.”
Comcast has outlandish business practices such as offering new/returning customers far better pricing and packages than existing customers get. They give you incentive to dump them! They are bringing HD in the clunkiest way imaginable. Get this: If you don’t use a cable box to connect to Comcast, HD channels (usually) appear adjacent to SD. But in the box, HD is listed in a completely different location, if it’s available at all. And many of the HD channels require extra fees even if you get the SD flavor.
I already pay them $140/mo and don’t get phone service, or a large swath of cable channels, or even a single pay movie channel.
Content owners need to understand that cable stands in their way. People want easy access on demand. The scheduled broadcast model is dying. We’ll live with advertising if we are not so annoyed with the service provider that we want to spite them.
Avner – check the last sentence; should read “the opportunity that boxee represents is greatER than ..”.
Please delete this comment when fixed. Thanks. Go boxee!
Great idea!
I think the biggest challenge is to get the industry to understand that the consumer let’s convenience trump legality.
The consumer is going to take the easiest route to get to the content. BitTorrent has been the easiest route thus far, and that, of course, offers zero revenue. Boxee came along with Hulu and offered something that was not only more convenient, but gave the industry some ad revenue.
Yes, it’s LESS revenue than TV, but a LOT MORE than bittorrenting copies.
It took the RIAA many many years to figure this out. Ultimately, they found out that people, when given the chance to purchase DRM free content in an easy way, they will.
I personally think this is more to do with cable subscriptions than anything else. I have basicly replaced cable in my house with a combination of rss torrent feeds and streaming media. I wouldn’t do this if cable didn’t cost 200 dollars a month for the content i want. The old subscription based model where we wait till 7 or 8 to watch our favorite show and sit through 30 minutes of commercials is dead. The worst part is that if the “content providers” don’t jump on something like boxee before it’s too late someone else will figure out a way to do it…they are in a unique position to profit from the coming change…..but it’s just like the napster thing….the record companies came along and shut it down thinking it would stop it and the kazaa and bit torrent hit…..apple comes along and makes itunes music store and makes millions….people will use it if it’s easy….and if they can’t figure out a way to make it easy and still make money i’m afraid we’re all going to suffer….dvr’s and bit torrent are already killing scripted tv because the networks find that more poeple tune in for reality tv…i just hope they realize all this before it’s too late and find a solution that works for us all
How about this. Put hulu back up on boxee OR I will torrent every tv show, boycott every movie, and destroy any reputation that NBC/FOX had with any of my friends. AND NO boxee can NEVER replace a cable box with the two hundred or so channels. Any sane boxee user knows that nothing will replace the cable box…. I still can’t believe the scumbag corporation that is NBC/FOX who spit in the eyes of the boxee team after sooo much work was put into this project to, in the end, help hulu, FOX, and NBC………
I see MANY posts that are emphasizing downloading shows by bit torrent as the primary alternative to Boxee+Hulu. I don’t think this will be a compelling argument to Hulu or the content providers. I hope that the Boxee folks DO NOT emphasize this argument in their discussions with Hulu.
They will think that all Boxee users are just a bunch of thieves that will never follow the rules anyway…so why worry about them.
I believe that people should get paid for their hard work. That is why I have never illegally downloaded a show via bit torrent.
The rise of Hulu actually got me to start viewing NBC/FOX shows again. I don’t schedule my life around when a TV show will air, and I never will. So my alternatives are a DVR or something like Hulu. With a DVR (I happen to use EyeTV), I don’t watch any advertising. I just skip through the comercials. However, I AM LAZY. When it comes to watching TV – If I use a DVR – I have to figure out which shows I want to record and be sure I have setup the thing to record a specific show, etc, etc. That’s work. With Hulu, I could just browse to the show I wanted (like that episode of 24 I missed because I went to the gym…or talked with my family…etc…doing something reasonably healthy instead of being stuck on the couch).
Ok, so I watch it on Hulu through Boxee with all the adds (which I can’t skip through) and I enjoy it. I enjoy it because it didn’t matter that I forgot to record it. I enjoy it because, I can view it whenever I want. I enjoy it because there is no work involved!…this is entertainment after all.
I have a Mac Mini hooked up to my TV. I can just watch shows in fullscreen mode through Safari…but this is more work than using Boxee. That is, I have to fool around with a web browser, a mouse, put it in fullscreen mode, etc. That’s work. Did I mention that I’M LAZY when I watch TV. I can record NBC/FOX shows over the antenna using EyeTV instead of Hulu, but it’s work.
So Boxee+Hulu was wonderful. My Hulu viewing was at least 5 times higher due to Boxee (maybe more). Now that I have to go back to a web browser, I will just watch less Hulu (if any at all). I don’t want to work too hard for entertainment. As much as I like some of the shows on Hulu, I just don’t want to have to spend precious time jumping through hoops to see shows when I want. So, I’ll just stop watching them.
Now, it seems that some people hypothesize that the content providers are not happy that Hulu can be viewed on big HDTVs. What? Seriously? I can’t beleive that they are that dim-witted. WAY BEFORE BOXEE, ONE COULD WATCH ON A TV SIMPLY BY HOOKING UP A COMPUTER TO THE TV. Ok, I know that I’m preaching to the choir but it feels better to use caps sometimes. BOXEE IS THE SAME AS A WEB BROWSER WHEN IT COMES TO VIEWING HULU. A much MORE CONVENIENT and easy to use web browser.
This move by Hulu just makes it harder to watch on a TV, so I’ll just stop watching; therefore, never viewing any more of their adds.
Please – Boxee people – emphasize the fact that there are many people who want to do the right thing. People that want to watch the content legally. People that do not mind watching a few adds for an enjoyable viewing experience.
Perhaps, I’m just not the type of customer they want. Perhaps, they are willing to write off the people that would like to have a MODERN TV EXPERIENCE. Maybe that want the customers that want to watch TV the same old way, a group that will get smaller and smaller as the years go on.
With this decision Hulu has just pushed me toward other content. Content that I can view with Boxee. There are still a lot of great things that I can watch on Boxee (with and without adds). So, I’ll just find other shows that I like…ones not provided by Hulu.
this this this a thousand times this
During the short time that we had hulu running on Boxee my family watched more commercials than we had in the last 4 years. It’s just not something we normally do.
The short Hulu commercials were bearable and too short to go do anything in the meantime so we’d watch the whole commercial.
So, oh well, back to commercial-free DVR watching. they sure missed a good opportunity. I don’t torrent cuz I “got the call” a few years ago from my ISP to stop as they’d been contacted by the MPAA.
We really enjoyed watching some older content on Hulu that we would NEVER pay for but would happily sit through an ad to view.
My parents have DirectTV with a tivo. When commercials come on, whoever is sitting nearest to the remote grabs it and jabs the skip forward button 6 times and we’re golden. It takes in sum total, about 30 seconds. But you have to interrupt what you’re doing in order for that to work.
That’s wonderful for them, they use it frequently. I’m a little more busy and tend to do other stuff while watching TV. I would so much rather SIT THROUGH 30 seconds of commercials than try to fast forward thru 4 minutes of commercials (often going a little too far or not far enough), very frustrating.
Think about it, execs: 30 seconds of me skipping commercials… or.. 30 seconds of me watching a commercial. If you need me to solidify it more, here is a diagram:
30 seconds of me skipping commercials ––> advertisers realize that I’m not watching ––> you get less advertising dollars
30 seconds of me actually WATCHING a commercial ––> advertisers will want this (captive audience?) and sign up to display ads with you ––> you make more money in the long run
They need to stop thinking in the short run. Once advertisers catch on to the fact that everyone is skipping past their commercials, they will flock to the hulu/boxee type TV viewing experience!
You say this
“Now, it seems that some people hypothesize that the content providers are not happy that Hulu can be viewed on big HDTVs. What? Seriously?”
Yeah, they certainly aren’t happy to have a convenient net-top solution that is enough for many to quit their cable subs.
I dropped cable/sat TV some time ago because I’m simply no longer willing to pay for (1) channels with commercial advertising, and (2) hundreds of channels when there are only a dozen in which I have *any* interest. I did like the premium movie channels, but I can get all of that by renting or buying the DVD of what I really want to watch (and cheaper, too). I’ve been watching stuff on Hulu since it started up–don’t have Boxee running (yet). My attitude toward Hulu (and NBC-Universal/Fox) is becoming what it is toward the RIAA (and its member artists–I don’t download music nor do I buy CDs any more): they’ll never get any money out of me, either directly or indirectly (as in, ad revenue) as long as they take an adversarial attitude towards their subscribers/customers/whatever. Neither TV nor Hulu is something I need; I’ll be the one who decides how I view the content I want to see, not them. (I’ll go start setting up Boxee now.
)
I promise you that will not help them win any arguments. In fact it will help the other side tremendously.
Exactly.
Come on folks, forest from the trees.
They’re trying to keep cable subs _up_. That’s it, nothing else.
Why? Well, it’s a business. The revenue from Hulu likely pales in comparison to the existing model, but is a great alternative to skim some money off the geeks who bit-torrent. Who, from a social standpoint, are a relative minority of the demographic they cater to.
Let me play devil’s advocate in hopes it helps you form a better argument. I’m Hulu and I’m now making more money from homepage ads than I am with video ads. Why should I allow someone to bypass the home page and use Hulu in a way which I can’t control the user experience? Also, why should a for-profit startup like Boxee be allowed to use my product to make money without any compensation to me? Content owners are already getting ripped off by Apple and Microsoft who use our content to sell iPods and Xboxes. And finally, television and DVD sales still make a gagillion times more money than Hulu ads. Why on earth would I want Hulu to supplant replace those? Hulu is meant to supplement those things, not supplant them. We want some of that YouTube market, but by no means do we want to threaten our existing models. Hulu is so people can catch up on shows they missed while on vacation or at work on lunch-break and such. To watch on a small computer screen. It is not intended to replace cable/broadcast/DVD by being freely available in the living room.
At the end of the day it doesn’t matter what hulu is meant for. Technology WILL change the way we do things, it always has. Entertainment is no different. The issue in my eyes is whether or not the people in control are smart enough to get with the program. I don’t see how they can put content on the net for free and allow people to view it without making a user account and then get upset when someone does so without a web browser….that’s almost like someone making a website only for Internet Explorer then getting mad at firefox for viewing the content. I’m going to do what i want with my internet connection and i’m also going to do what i want with my tv. Damn anyone who tries to stop me.
and just for the record, i already have hulu back up and running on boxee, and the funny thing is this: Before, when boxee was using the allowed hulu, it didn’t work very well on linux because boxee was MAKING it show the home page and all the ads and everything, it wouldn’t pause, it wouldn’t rewind or fastfoward…now, after they were forced to turn it off, using open source software i have been able to get it up and running WITH all playback controls and WITHOUT hulu’s ad’s
I thought the video of Clay Shirky: institutions vs.
collaboration; and the presentation at TED was interesting for many reasons. I saw it referenced on the OT Post in reference to the mathematical explanation of the distribution of posters. Statistically it is called a power law distribution curve, and is a very common form for social networks. More noteworthy to me is the relevance of the impact on contributions in an organizations and the impact of technology. Scott Cohen, Dimestore Media
I never used hulu until boxee presented it to me in a way that made it appealing. The fact that I can watch it on my tv is great. I wouldn’t even mind more advertisements on hulu if that meant i could keep watching on my tv.
The hulu folks better know what they’re getting into with this disaster…just when everyone started to actually LIKE an industry-supported media content site, they go sour. Will it drive hackers to piracy again, or will the studios finally find Nerdvana?
The comment by @botbotbot was an excellent response to Hulu and the networks.
I just bought an AppleTV and just installed Boxee only to find out the previous day, Hulu content was killed. This made me so upset because I just spent $349 on this box and half the content I wanted to be able to watch is now not there.
It’s hard to believe they would do this as there is really no difference watching Hulu on my computer with a 24″ screen than there is watching it on a 34″ screen from further away.
This whole thing has left me looking for alternatives. I have found one that it almost as convenient to Hulu and there are no ads, bittorrent. I’ve never used bittorrent before, but it’s fast. You add ‘Ted’ to it and your shows download automatically. Now I have everything I wanted, and Hulu and the networks have lost out on their dollars.
I’d happily go back, but they are going to have to make it easier than what I got now, which is pretty darn easy.
So they have a choice, put it back up, or lose out. I could care less. I just want to watch the shows. And, hey, I didn’t cancel my cable. I still pay over $200 a month and have 3 DVRs and 4 TVs in my house. All that money is going somewhere, right?
One other point I have not seen yet is that you can recommend shows to friends etc. Therefor someone who was not going to watch a specific show or the commercials associated with them would do so now to keep up with what their friends are watching. This increases the audience and potential viewers of adds. Also is there a way to get rantings from boxee for content providers? I would think this would be more accurate than nielsen ratings. I once got one of those nielsen rating sheets and you had to fill out all kinds of stuff. With something like Boxee they could know exactly how much their commercial/show was watched (how it was rated).
sadly, I haven’t watched one hulu video, used boxee, or even turned on my appleTV since the ban. i used to watch several hours each night. seems like everybody lost on this one.
+1
[...] collaborative effort to build our pitch to content owners (via boxee blog) [...]
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