Ben Reid
10 Oct 2006 14:08
After 15 minutes of viewing the ABC network premiere of Despearate Housewives - a high-quality, commercial-free cap that had appeared on filesharing networks, Disney co-chair Anne Sweeney began to recognize piracy as a business model to compete with as opposed to just an illegal threat to be fought - whether the company likes it or not.
"We understand now that piracy is a business model," said Sweeney. "It exists to serve a need in the market for consumers who want TV content on demand. Pirates compete the same way we do - through quality, price and availability. We we don't like the model but we realise it’s competitive enough to make it a major competitor going forward."
Disney has enjoyed a decent amount of success with online distribution of its motion picture. For example, 12.8 million downloads of Disney-owned shows have been made via the iTunes Store since it struck an agreement with Apple Corp. last year.
Giving the Keynote address at Mipcom, she also underlined the importance of consumer needs. Before the times of p2p networks, media distribution was controlled mainly by the motion picture studios. However, filesharing capabilities have changed this and now, she believes, Disney need to aswell. "The digital revolution has unleashed a consumer coup - we have to not only make in-demand content but make it on-demand" she said. "This power shift changes the way we think about our business, industry and our viewers. We have to build our businesses around their behaviour and their interests.
"All of us have to continually renew our business in order to renew our brands because audiences have upper hand and show no sign of giving it back."
Source:
Netribution