Talking of illegal downloading, the next industry to be affected by illegal file sharing online looks likely to be the TV business, and word has it we here in the UK are leading the way in online
TV piracy (makes you proud, doesn't it). Research by a company called Envisional says nearly 20% of TV show downloads originate in the UK - compared with 7% in the US, and just 2% in Spain.
That fact seems to be down to an impatience among British TV viewers to wait for UK networks to get round to showing new series of top US TV shows (impatience that is increased when the terrestrial networks keep switching the time slots of said shows, and then cancelling them for three months in order to show the cricket).
Perhaps unsurprisingly, 24 is the most downloaded show, with Desperate
Housewives, The OC, Six Feet Under, Smallville and, of course,
The Simpsons all popular with the downloaders, and high quality copies of new episodes (often with the ads edited out) often appear within hours of them airing for the first time on American
TV.
Envisional chief operating officer Ben Coppin told reporters: "Compared to the tasks involved in pirating a first-run movie, TV piracy is a relatively simple and safe operation with no immediate or obvious risk to those involved. The internet is revolutionising how people watch, obtain, and view television programmes. It's now as easy to download a pirate TV show as it is to programme a VCR. Indeed, it is as easy to download a television programme through a website as it is to schedule your VCR to tape the episode."
How the TV industry, who pay big cash for these American shows, will react to the new trend remains to be seen. Obviously Sky, who often market subscriptions on the back of premiere runs of key US shows, have most to lose, though any commercial network will be affected should the downloading of TV shows drastically affect their viewing figures. Coppin recommends that the TV industry quickly get their own download service off the ground which makes new shows available for a small fee during, or perhaps ahead, of their official TV airing. "If TV companies were to offer episodes for download at a small cost at the same time as they air offline they could generate revenue in the same way that Apple's iTunes does. However, they must be aware of the dangers of losing their core audience to a delivery method that is free, unregulated and open to anyone with an internet connection."