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Sky Atlantic is a new channel on the UK Sky subscription television service that is dedicated to bringing the latest HBO shows to British viewers. And its policy of trying to air shows as soon as possible after the original US airing is helping to reduce piracy, the networks says.
For example, Sky Atlantic chooses to air new episodes of Game of Thrones only hours after it has been aired in the US, and David Wheeldon, the company's director of policy feels that this move will ensure viewers don't seek to download the content illegally. "With this in mind, closing the gap between US and UK transmission helps eliminate one of the reasons why a small minority of consumers may be tempted to view content from illegitimate sources," posted Wheeldon on Sky's blog.
Sky has also called on more cooperation from content owners, to release content earlier, particularly to overseas markets. While Wheeldon understands there are commercial reasons at play for delays, such as content owners trying to squeeze as much as possible from various distribution deals, today's ever changing viewing environment, and the Internet, makes any delays in providing legal content extremely costly from a piracy point of view. "In a digital world where consumers can source and receive content across international boundaries and platforms, it’s essential that the content owners and distributors work together to ensure that we don’t indirectly encourage piracy by not responding to the demands of consumers," added Wheeldon.
And Wheeldon concludes by saying that offering a wide variety of legitimate sources for content is key to fighting piracy. So it appears then there are more ways to fight piracy than through courts and government intervention.
For example, Sky Atlantic chooses to air new episodes of Game of Thrones only hours after it has been aired in the US, and David Wheeldon, the company's director of policy feels that this move will ensure viewers don't seek to download the content illegally. "With this in mind, closing the gap between US and UK transmission helps eliminate one of the reasons why a small minority of consumers may be tempted to view content from illegitimate sources," posted Wheeldon on Sky's blog.
Sky has also called on more cooperation from content owners, to release content earlier, particularly to overseas markets. While Wheeldon understands there are commercial reasons at play for delays, such as content owners trying to squeeze as much as possible from various distribution deals, today's ever changing viewing environment, and the Internet, makes any delays in providing legal content extremely costly from a piracy point of view. "In a digital world where consumers can source and receive content across international boundaries and platforms, it’s essential that the content owners and distributors work together to ensure that we don’t indirectly encourage piracy by not responding to the demands of consumers," added Wheeldon.
And Wheeldon concludes by saying that offering a wide variety of legitimate sources for content is key to fighting piracy. So it appears then there are more ways to fight piracy than through courts and government intervention.