Unless you live on mars you would be aware that Game of Thrones Season 3 is airing within the next few weeks. You would also know that Game of Thrones is the most pirated show of 2012. With 4 million illegal downloads per episode that is a huge number of potential customers that HBO is choosing to neglect.
Living in Australia can be incredibly frustrating at times, we don’t get access to Netflix or Hulu, we pay more for downloads on almost every digital goods store (despite the high Aussie Dollar), we have clowns trying to censor the internet and for some crazy reason none of the free to air TV channels in Australia want to show Game of Thrones – no wonder they are all going broke.
For season 1 of Game of Thrones, the only option that Australians had if they wanted to watch the show was to download it illegally, or to wait until the entire series of over and buy the DVD or download it off iTunes.
Season 2 was slightly better, with the Australian Pay TV company Foxtel getting the rights to show Game of Thrones on their channel Showcase. Unfortunately they aired the episodes a week after they were shown in the US and so there wasn’t a great take up. After all, who would want to wait a week and potentially get hit with a spoiler while all your friends and coworkers were watching the show less than an hour after everyone in the US because the download was so easily accessible. On top of this, Australia also had the largest rate of piracy of Game of Thrones in the world at 10% of all downloads. This is despite our backwater little country having a population of only 22 million people and some of the slowest internet speeds in the developed world (Ranked #42).
Needless to say, piracy has become a massive problem for the people at HBO (or has it?). They keep producing hit TV series after hit TV series, but they refuse to embrace the internet distribution model, and so they end up losing millions and millions of dollars in revenue. I’m sure they have a big team of bean counters who know money better than I do, but I can’t see how 4 million unpaid downloads per episode is good business practice. Even only charging $2-$3 per episode works out to be some serious money.
Game Of Thrones Season 3 – Australian Air Time
This year Foxtel and HBO have finally listened to the people and decided to show the episodes of Game of Thrones only 1 hour after it airs in the US – Hallelujah! For anyone living in Australia and looking for the airtime of Season 3 here is the link you are looking for – http://showcasechannel.com.au/show/13201 – Next Playing: 4:20pm Monday 1st April
Still, watching Game of Thrones isn’t going to come cheap. Foxtel is very expensive (I should know, we have had it for a while due to my Aussie Rules Obsession). Currently we pay a whopping $80 a month and this gives us access to the base package, the entertainment package and most importantly the sports package. Originally we only wanted to get Foxtel to watch the football, but to get access to the sports package, they also force you to purchase the base package. Seeing as I was getting the sports channels, it is only fair that my wife also gets a package as she really likes a lot of channels in the entertainment package and so we also got that.
This means that if I want to watch Game of Thrones legitimately, I will have to pay for the movie package, which will cost an extra $25 a month. That puts our cable TV bill at over $100 a month – insanity considering we only really like about 4-5 shows! Despite this, I want to reward the people at Foxtel for finally getting with the times and scheduling the show to air straight away, so I am inclined to pay the extra $25 a month even if it is just for the 10 weeks that Game of Thrones is on. My preference would be to go to HBO.com and to pay them directly for a download of their show and to cut out the middle man, but I’m not going to hold my breath.
If you do decide that paying for subscription TV is going to cost you too much money and you are hell bent on downloading Game of Thrones, please make sure you check out my 30 Tips to stay safe on the internet post, as it may just save you from needing a computer repair man in the near future.
Readers Question
What do you think – Is piracy ever justifiable? How much would you be willing to pay to watch episodes on demand, rather than having to buy a whole package? I am really interested in everyone’s thoughts on this one as almost everyone I know pirates TV shows.
Great post! Thanks for your insight; something we don’t often get here in the States. Looking forward to more on similar topics!
I’m an Aussie heading to the US 4hrs before it premiers on foxtel. Are there ways to catch up with the show on HBO.com (or foxtel go for that matter)?
On the question I download illegally, and then buy the DVDs to support HBO as the producers of the content. However with foxtels close running I might not bother. They should definitely make legal downloads available 24hrs after screening. Would cut out a lot of piracy.
I had this exact discussion with a friend the other day when she expressed surprise that I was only just watching season 3 of GoT (which just got released on DVD). My thoughts? Piracy is illegal and I’m not a criminal, so that’s not an option. I’m too tight to pay for foxtel. So I’ll keep on waiting until great shows are released on DVD here, and either buy them for less than the price of a month worth of foxtel, or get them free from the library.
I figure it’s a good exercise of my frugal muscles to wait patiently and resist instant gratification. But I know not everyone feels the same way.
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And that would be season 2 I was referring to watching on DVD! Whoops.
Sophie recently posted..Craft: Card Making
You have far better willpower than I do! I just hate knowing that everyone at work will be talking about it and I will find things out that I don’t want to know.
As an American myself. I have easy access to hbo. But as a fan of game of thrones. I’m really sorry you guys have such a hard time being able to catch up on episodes. I’ve been counting the months and days till the show airs again. And when season 3 premiers I will hold up my drink and say, for our Australian brothers! At my premier party
At least this year we can see it only 1 hour later than you guys.
Well that’s good to hear. Now I don’t have to feel guilty while watching it lol
Super simple solution: read the books. That way, nothing anyone says is a spoiler.
I haven’t watched Game of Thrones, but I’m assuming product placement isn’t much of an option? Does it take place in present day?
I think tv shows and movies that can work in product placement have a huge advantage over those that can’t. They win (or lose less) than other shows and movies that can’t really bring in revenue via product placement.
I do not think piracy is justifiable. There are ways to get legal “free” content, even if it means you have to wait a while.
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It takes place in another world where I’m guessing there are no brand names! I don’t think product placement would work on Game of Thrones.
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Probably not with Game of Thrones, unless you were an iron ore miner and wanted to talk about paying the iron price…
Dc you are seriously missing out. It is such a great show, do yourself a favor and get a copy, it is only 10 episodes a season so if you do 1 a day you will be pretty much right in time for the start of season 3.
I have watched a couple episodes of GOT and I liked it. I don’t think piracy is a good thing, but it did cause the music industry to change their distribution methods. Maybe it can do the same for TV and movies. If you don’t provide people with the means to watch your show, then they will find it another way. That is the problem for the distribution company.
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Exactly, the consumers are telling HBO how they want to receive the media, why fight them?
Wow, that many illegal downloads?! That’s nuts! What’s even crazier is that HBO does not seem to care about it. I don’t think piracy is a good thing and will avoid it myself, but I know it’s out there and can be difficult to control.
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If I was the business head at HBO firstly – I should be fired. Secondly – listen to the people and give them what they want.
I had the same problem with the hbo show true blood. It used to be on netflix, but I couldn’t find season 3 anywhere, so I had to pay for it on itunes.
I’ve never seen GOT but I know a lot of people love it. If I can get my hands on it somehow for free/some other cheap streaming option I’d love to see it myself.
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It is worth every dollar. I love it!
we cancelled our movie channels about six months ago, and i really do miss some of the shows.. i have never gotten into GOT, but have heard great things..
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We wil be cancelling it after Game of Thrones that’s for sure.
Piracy is huge in Guatemala, usually you get a CD of the last US movies a few days after they premiere for $1.
I would like the kind of netflix subscription for $10/month that is available in the US, unfortunately here it is not possible so we have to get creative! I agree with DC that product placement should make up for that.
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Some countries are far worse than others.
HBO has stated that they don’t care that the show has been pirated like crazy, because it has generated more money than any other show EVER! Even with all the piracy. That just increases it’s popularity, ya know?
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I still find that mentality totally absurd.
I keep hearing all of this GOT buzz and now it’s got me interested.
I think that the entertainment industry is going to need to find other ways to monetize. Paying for premium channels and commercials are slowly going to fade. Instead we need to integrate our internet and television. A model like Youtube for major networks would work out.
Just have ads before with the option to watch one long ad or chop them up would work better.
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You really do need to watch it, but make sure you watch at least the first 3 episodes as episode 1 is very slow (at least after the first 5 minutes), and 2 doesn’t really get going until half way through, but after that it’s no stop the whole way.
I haven’t watched a series show in a long time, before I started blogging! I am usually a season or so behind everyone else, so I can’t read anything online and I have to plug my ears if someone is talking about it. I may sign up for netflix again this summer. I have lots to catch up on, but I don’t think I would ever pirate anything. I don’t feel sorry for HBO, but I just would feel bad on a moral level.
It is interesting just how much time blogging takes. I used to have plenty of time to watch shows, movies and play video games, but now it all seems too difficult to squeeze in.
Now that I finally have HBO, I’ll be watching this show and finding out what all the hype was about. I used to be all for piracy back when Napster first came out and you could download songs all day long for free. But that was also because I was a bratty college kid. As an adult, I can see what harm it does and why it doesn’t really have a place as a legitimate business. However, the commercial networks could do a little bit better job lowering the cost to watch these shows. Sometimes the price they give is outrageous!
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Great article, I’m glad that the cable companies are finally listeing and closing the gap between the airtime in the states and in Australia. With globally distributed high-speed internet, and infrastructure costs reducing, there needs to be more thought given to alternatives to combat the current monopoly of Pay TV in Autralia. The licensing issues with Hulu and Netflix seem to be reaching a critical point, but I guess we’re just stuck waiting for the business model to catch up.
Me too, I just wish the free to air companies would pick up great content like this rather than showing the trash they keep putting on.
Season 3 is now available for pre-order on iTunes Australia. Episode 1 from 2nd April. $33.99. No more excuses!
That is quite annoying. I have the same problem with some british shows, I can’t get them hulu or netflix so I have been forced to look else where. If you have any friends in the states, maybe they can copy a file for you.
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one thing I forgot to add, was sometimes getting an scrambler can help mask where you are located so you can gain access to some of the sites that show the programming for free. I had to do that with the british shows I watch.
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I also saw that iTunes Australia is selling season packages already.. But I held of buying because I couldn’t find a release date. Paying all that money for Foxtel is absurd, I buy what I want from iTunes and don’t pay for the stuff I don’t want… And it’s ad free!!!
I hear that buying the season 3 pass for Game of Thrones on iTunes will have it available on each Tuesday (ie 1 day +1 hour after HBO in the states). I’m happy to pay for that
I think it must be a bit of a joke when people declare that they don’t download because it’s “criminal”. What naive world are they living in? In the real world big companies run our governments. Private organizations can print unlimited money out of thin air while the rest of us have to labour and work long hours just to pay for the roof over our heads. Cinemas can charge $14 to $18 per ticket to watch a movie because some conglomerate bought out all the cinemas and have a monopoly. Australians get charged extra for everything we buy just because we’re Australians and everything around us is being poisoned and polluted in the name of greed.
So just give me a break when I want to sit down and enjoy a moment of escapism with a free download. If I had to pay for the darn thing I probably wouldn’t have been able to afford it anyway. Thanks to the internet…. for once the common people get the chance to get the upper hand and they call us “criminals”. I don’t feel the slightest remorse and I’ll download for as long as I am able to because it’s the only thing in life where I actually get a “fair go”.
….oh and one more thing….guess what I do for a living? Yes I work in the film industry :>) Yes I’m absolutely serious.
Just watched GoT on Foxtel Showcase HD. The quality was awful. No surround sound and picture looked like it was up-converted. When watching on 60 inch monitor….yuk.
So, Game of Thrones on iTunes.
1) Saw it advertised on youtube when i had heard nothing from HBO on this, so clicked buy.
2) Spent ages trying to find it.
3) Finally found it, then tried to buy it and it said ‘not available at this time’.
4) See a bunch of people posting that its been days since the promised release date of S03E01 and not out yet.
So, I dont understand, why would HBO not announce the one and only digital method for purchase in australia when according to day1 results from torrentfreak, of the 1 million illegal downloads in the first day we represent around 10% which is 100k illegal downloads from australia on day 1.
If HBO want to counter this, why wont they properly announce the availability on iTunes and actually release the content on the day that the iTunes store promised? Common guys, I’m trying to throw money at you for your great content and you dont want it.
In France, Game of Thrones is the most downloaded also!
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