Yeah, right...

[graculus]

Over on SyFy Portal, they're reporting that the producers of the new Battlestar Galactica series have actually put out a release on the Sci Fi Channel's own message board asking people in the US and Canada not to download episodes now airing first in the UK:

"The more episodes get downloaded and digitally copied and passed along and copied again ... it creates a dangerous situation where a lot of people are watching and enjoying 'Galactica,' but not seeing it when it counts -- namely on the air," they apparently say. "The more you copy the show and pass it along to your friends now, the more it potentially impacts our total audience in January."

Cynics Some people might say that the producers have created this situation by selling first rights to a tv station outside their largest market and are now desperately trying to regain control. Others might say that, as long as no money is changing hands, the producers need to keep their nebs out.

Comments

[mer1973.livejournal.com]

Cynics Some people might agree with you.

[graculus.livejournal.com]

It very much comes across as 'don't download it now, forcing us to waste all the money we intend to use to buy ads in order to thoroughly annoy indoctrinate convince you'. ;)

[mortuus.livejournal.com]

Not too bright, are they?

I have no interest in the show and don't plan on watching it, but just for that, I'm going to download it, watch it, and then not watch it on Sci Fi. Ha!

[graculus.livejournal.com]

They seem not to have figured that the odds of someone downloading an episode either being part of a Nielsen family or passing the episode on to a Nielsen family and thus skewing the ratings significantly are pretty nigh infinitesimal!

I have no interest in the show and don't plan on watching it, but just for that, I'm going to download it, watch it, and then not watch it on Sci Fi. Ha!

That'll teach them! ;)

[tenaya.livejournal.com]

Throw a wet blanket over your newborn fanbase? I guess they feel threatened by word of mouth. Not too confident, eh?

[sg1scribe.livejournal.com]

I read something recently about the makers of Joey, the Friends spin-off, being upset about the fact a large proportion of their non-US market had dl'd episodes. I didn't have any sympathy since the answer is simple. Sell it to the worldwide market for airing at the same time or within a day or two of the US screening instead of making the rest of us wait for months on end. What's so difficult about that? (Not that I want to watch Joey, but I wouldn't mind watching West Wing a bit earlier). Same with movies. I wouldn't be tempted to dl my fav actor's latest offering if it was released in the UK at roughly the same time as the states. It's the four month wait that annoys me.

[graculus.livejournal.com]

Except that, as someone has rightly pointed out, the availability of SG and Atlantis eps on download over here before they air hasn't harmed their ratings in any way - they've still done substantially better than Galactica, which wasn't available.

It's just stupidity, as far as I can see.