You know that feeling after an argument when you  realize what would have been a good response only after it’s too late? Well, here I am.  On October 16th, our comm 101 class had a debate about possible strategies for Netflix to use moving forward. The four options for Netflix were: to continue on buying content, to focus more on their own content, to partner with NBC/ABC, or to partner with YouTube/Google. I joined the team arguing that they should continue to buy content, but I was open to hear the other sides of the argument.  One argument that was brought up incessantly was that Netflix can’t continue to purchase content because it takes too long for them to get movies and the selection is too small. If I could go back in time, I would point out that they were all arguing from personal experience with Canadian Netflix, rather than from knowledge regarding Netflix as a whole. American Netflix serves a much bigger market, and has more than double the titles that Canadian Netflix has. Another argument that was brought up by the team supporting a partnership with YouTube/Google was that YouTube is proven to be successful, and therefore a partnership with them would be low risk. However, Youtube is used by mostly non-paying users. So, what’s the incentive for people to subscribe to Netflix for YouTube when they can already access it for free? Those are just a couple of things I wish I had said in class.

Source:

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/09/06/netflix-canada-best-movies-tv-shows_n_3882581.html

This is a response to Jasper’s blog post about what it takes for a sports franchise to sell.

In his blog post, Jasper concluded that it is essential for sports franchises to win games to be financially successful. I have one thing to say to that: The Toronto Maple Leafs. Oh, and another: The Houston Astros. The Maple Leafs are the most profitable team in the National Hockey League, yet they’ve consistently struggled to make the playoffs for the past decade. They are financially successful because of a number of different other factors such the population size of GTA, the history of the sport in Toronto, and the high income level of the city. The Houston Astros are financially successful for completely different reasons relating more to management. Despite finishing with the 2nd worst record of all time in Major League Baseball, they brought in the highest revenue. A large portion of their revenue comes from a local TV rights deal they signed with Comcast, but they are also economically successful by maintaining the lowest payroll in the league. Although success on the field is helpful for increasing revenue, it is not required for a franchise to be successful off the field.

References:

http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/forbes-nhl/

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tomvanriper/2013/09/30/profitable-houston-astros-are-second-worst-team-of-all-time/

Everyone hears about how file sharing is killing entertainment industries, and it makes sense: If there’s an option to simply download an album for free as suppose to purchasing it, or course that’s going to hurt the artist. However, a new British study suggests otherwise. Researchers from the London School of Economics found that file sharing might actually help boost revenues. For about the first ten years after file sharing became widespread, entertainment industries tried to fight it, but it was a losing battle and they lost a lot of revenue.  Now, artists are beginning to embrace media piracy as a form of advertisement, many artists even stream their music for free on sites like Bandcamp and SoundCloud.  Artists’ mentality towards file sharing is shifting from piracy to free advertisement; British communications regulator OfCom found that people who download music illegally also purchased more than people who don’t pirate at all. If this is the case, then perhaps less effort should be put into copyright enforcement regimes by the governments because they may be harming the people they are trying to protect.

As an avid digital pirate for the past 8 years, I completely agree with the researchers that it’s an effective form of advertisement. I’ve been introduced to countless bands that I normally wouldn’t have been introduced to, and consequently, I’ve purchased tickets for concerts and albums to support the band. I’ve also introduced friends to music that I discovered online, and they in turn either downloaded it or purchased it.  As time goes on, this chain continues and the industry makes greater profits than it would have without pirating.

References:

http://www.businessinsider.com/time-warner-ceo-people-pirating-game-of-thrones-is-better-than-an-emmy-for-hbo-2013-8

http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/10/04/digital-piracy-effects-study_n_4039954.html?utm_hp_ref=canada-business