Quote:
|
That said - and others have made the point - HBO would rather get their income from the large cable companies than from individuals. One could argue that offering the show to individuals soon after airing would actually eat into their value to the cable companies. You may see it as an untapped/ignored market, but it's very intentional. HBO is more than happy to offer the show on DVD, only well after the show's "value" has diminished, which is some time after it has aired.
|
That's great for HBO but it's not how a market economy works. You can be a company and favour income streams however which way you want. That doesn't mean it will be there or that you can dictate how that income comes in. The thing is that we've been so thoroughly embedded to this monopolistic system that we can't imagine a world where content delivery was actually gasp focused on providing consumers what they want. Like any other industry.
I don't go to Shopper's Drug Mart and be forced to buy a package of goods when all I want is a tooth brush. I also do go to the grocery store to have them tell me that I can only buy bread between specific hours of when they're open. The reason is is that there's market competition out there ensuring that consumers dictate the terms of what they want to buy.
The fact that we think it's okay to have a market delivery model pushed on us is just a sad testament to the state of the market.