DigitalSandbox

So here’s the dilemma: I am moving and The Wife and I have decided that we will not be subscribing to cable at the new house. The reason is one of cost and trade offs. Comcast is the cable provider and their Basic cable package is $43 per month

. I also need broadband internet and will likely go with Comcast as I already have the equipment and other options at the new home are limited. But that will be an additional $43 per month. If I forgo the cable, then the broadband is $53 per month. A $30 per month savings.

But I still like to watch TV programming and I hope that we will be able to get some over-the-air channels. But then it hit me. Why can’t I download some of the shows I like from the ol’ Internet and watch them. The answer, of course, is that it’s illegal. And it’s illegal because the studios want to fight the ineveitable instead of finding a way to embrace it.

So here’s my idea for a service that the studios could provide and how they can pull it all together for me.

The Service

Basically what we need is an iTunes style program for TV shows. But not a full iTunes, mostly what we need is just the new Podcasting features from iTunes. Then I can subscribe to shows that I like and have them downloaded to my computer. The service is offering a place to find new shows and subscribe (as in RSS feeds, not payment) to them and allow the computer to download them for me. I can already go out and download a load of TV shows, but I have to do it manually which is time consuming.

It would be like a DVR without the R (which stands for recorder). It just downloads them for me to view at a later time. A time of my choosing (i.e. after the kids have gone to bed and I can relax and unwind).

The Tech

All the pieces are in place for this to happen actually. It’s just a matter of connecting the dots and they could have a really great service to offer. The union of three existing technologies and the creation of a program to handle it (which they could leave to third party developers if they use existing open standards).

First issue is the video itself. You need a codec that will deliver quality video without outrageous filesizes. Enter H.264. H.264 is an amazing codec that can easily deliver both good quality with reasonable filesizes. That will allow them to deliver full resolution (standard definition at least) and full frame rate video without having to download a gigabyte of video (unless you’re downloading a three part mini-series).

Once we get the show encoded we need to deliver it. Podcasting is the answer. An RSS feed can keep me notified on when new content is available. Then include the video as an enclosure within the feed like a Podcast does with audio and you’re ready to roll.

The problem is bandwidth is expensive. That’s why combining this with BitTorrent would be an excellent idea. For the unintiated, BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer program that allows users to share large files. The Wikipedia has a great article on how it all works.

Convincing the Studios

This is the tricky part. Basically it comes down to finding a way for them to make money from it. With traditional programming they can simply sell airtime to show commercials. But this is a dying opportunity as more people get DVRs and begin to skip the commercials of their recorded shows. With my setup one could even go in and edit them out entirely. Not a good thing as advertisers will likely balk at the idea of buying time that people fast-forward through or skip all together.

One option that they might be able to do is to embed images into the video. I remember when the US hosted the World Cup they did a similar thing. They would simply put a logo (e.g. Snickers) and a message that this portion of the broadcast was brought to you by Company Name Here. It was very unobtrusive and worked well I thought.

The next idea would likely be the way they would prefer, but they will likely botch it up thanks to inept pricing schemes. What they can do is sell a subscription to the service. They can even provide tiers of service where you can only download a predetermined number of programs all the way up to unlimited access.

I think the better option would be to provide premium content at a price and allow the shows that have already aired to be downloaded. It would be kind of like a DVD. You can go ahead and download the stuff you want and they can entice you with premium content, like extra footage from your favorite reality trash TV show. Maybe some bonus episodes that don’t air on the TV. Or pay for live streaming of live events or pay for a chance to watch the show before it airs. Just get creative and find ways to offer content that peole will pay for.

Pipe Dream

Of course, this is all fantasy. The studios will only adopt this technology after someone does more or less what I have outlined here in an unofficial (i.e. illegal) form and it becomes wildly popular. Then the Execs will try desperately to put the genie back in the bottle so that they can control it. It will be too late by then I am afraid.

Just imagine integrating this with the Bluetooth Dream Home Entertainment Center

. Just pull up a list of shows and movies and pick and choose. Ah well, maybe someday someone will stop trying to maintaint the status quo indefinitely. Until then we will just have to stick to doing things the hard way.