

Throwing Out An Idea - brentr

The media industry is finding it more and more difficult to control their own content as a result of the proliferation of P2P networks. At the same time, media consumers are finding it more and more difficult to obtain quality programming (at least in my opinion; I haven't found much worth watching on television recently). I was thinking about a way to solve both the media producers' need to control their property and my want to obtain quality programming when I want it for a relatively cheap price. I had the following idea:<p>It would be great to have a site like YouTube that the media producers load all of their property onto (television, movies, radio, etc.) and users pay a flat fee per month to have the opportunity to view any episode, any movie, or listen to any song at anytime they want with just a few commercials spliced into the feed at points that make sense (like natural commercial breaks for a television show). The media companies get revenue from the commercials and a significant amount of demographic data. The website gets money from the media consumer. The user gets to watch anything at anytime, all problems would be solved.<p>I even had the idea that media producers could load scripts for the television shows and movies directly on the site so that the user could search specific quotes and immediately jump to the specific scene the quote appeared in. The same thing could go for lyrics to songs. The key would be to allow the media producers to maintain control of all of their creative assets while the user is basically paying to see what he wants rather than paying some outrageous amount for cable (I must admit that I hate cable and wish I could pay for only two or three channels a la carte).<p>I would be grateful for any comments regarding this idea. Is it feasible? Do you think media producers would go with it? Do you think media consumers would go with it? YouTube is great, but I want a place where I can watch whole episodes legally. I am willing to pay for good content, but I am not willing to pay the outrageous price for a DVD or CD.
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brentr
They don't have all of the media I am thinking of: Home Improvement, The Drew
Carey Show, Seinfeld, MythBusters.

UPDATE: I was basically trying to think of a way to eliminate the need to pay
for all the channels on cable I don't use. I know I could easily download
something on the internet, but I was trying to find a way to do it legally,
basically finding a solution that is good for both consumers and producers.

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jakewolf
Talk to the lawmakers and get them to force a la cart channels for cable.
There's been talk of it for a long time, but they always have an excuse so
they can keep their revenue coming.

I'm sure the 3 channels I watch shouldn't cost $30 a month.

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bkmrkr
hulu.com and its free

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jakewolf
damn, you beat me to it. How about a site where you can go to check if
someone's already launched your idea?

Wait, I think it's google.com

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eusman
it's called Joost (joost.com) and it's free

