TV Analyst: Kids Love Netflix, And Disney Should Break Them Of That Nasty Habit

from the future-proof dept

Tue, Jul 3rd 2012 8:06pm — Leigh Beadon

The broadest, most obvious trend in media consumption is the shift to an on-demand world, where content is available when you want it on whatever device you're using. In the day-to-day, this gets lost behind neverending squabbles about licensing, and severely limited offerings accompanied by bold statements about embracing technology—but in the long run, what's happening couldn't be any more clear. Any long-term strategy for relevance and success in the world of media has to embrace that momentum by building new business models around such distribution schemes, while gracefully dismantling the business models that rely on dying habits and the limitations of antiquated technology.

Or, you can attempt to reshape the cultural norms of future generations by going to the source: kids. At least that's what analyst Todd Juenger suggests in a recent report about children's programming on Netflix. Juenger conducted a focus group with mothers and discovered that they really like Netflix as a source of entertainment for their kids, especially since they can put it on whenever they want—and that kids are growing accustomed this. To hear Juenger talk about it, you'd think this was both surprising and bad (it's neither). His advice to the providers of children's programming? Stop this trend immediately:

His advice for entertainment companies is to be cautious about how much kids programming they make available to the online video streaming provider and in which windows. "We remain firm in our belief Viacom and Walt Disney should limit their content availability on Netflix," Juenger wrote.

...

"Moms are increasingly directing their kids to alternative viewing modes for content control, commercial avoidance and time management," Juenger summarized the findings. "The moms we talked to originally subscribed to Netflix for themselves, but have recognized the dwindling supply of content for adults and are now using the service primarily for their kids…The content selection is perceived to be significantly better for kids than for adults, and the lack of commercials and ability to control the viewing choices are seen as positives.”

According to the analyst, the focus groups described children as device agnostic, "happily watching on TV sets, tablets, computers, even phones, with indifference." The result: “Our concern regarding Viacom and Disney’s kids’ networks has been reinforced,” Juenger said. “Viacom and Disney should do everything in their power to steer viewership toward modes with the best long-term economics, namely traditional TV and emerging forms of TV Everywhere VOD.”

Yes, he's confirmed that the "lack of commercials and ability to control the viewing choices are seen as positives", in case anyone in Hollywood was still clinging to the hope that consumers would grow to hate those things. And yes, kids are "happily watching" on a variety of devices, and we can't have that, can we? Some might respond to the observation of a clear consumer preference in young children by trying to embrace that change early (if anything Hollywood does with technology can be called "early" at this point) but Juenger thinks they're better off trying to hold back the tide, or at least redirect it into their proprietary canals.

The funniest part is that suggesting Disney and Viacom should try to "steer viewership" is appealing to the very power such companies are losing. Big media empires don't get to "steer viewership" the way they used to, and that's exactly why these new distribution methods represent a threat to them. Juenger is suggesting they keep the sinking ship afloat by tying it to... itself. That's not going to work.

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Filed Under: on demand, todd juenger
Companies: disney, netflix, viacom

104 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 3 Jul 2012 @ 8:14pm

Wow.. just wow
Heres to waiting for the dinosaurs to die off
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Chronno S. Trigger (profile), 3 Jul 2012 @ 8:21pm

Idiot
Yes, because content control and time management are two things we absolutely do not want parents to have.
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ebilrawkscientist (profile), 3 Jul 2012 @ 8:24pm

Viacom & Disney?
Video & On-Demand is here to stay. If Mister Big Content doesn't like it; then its time for Mister Big Content to get out of the content provider business.

We the people decide what we want to watch and when. Not you.

If you are unwilling to adapt then your business will die off. Its that simple.

Time to move over and let the next generation blaze a new trail.

People first; shareholders and corporations dead last.
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I. Wrole, 3 Jul 2012 @ 8:37pm

Sage Advice
"We remain firm in our belief Viacom and Walt Disney should limit their content availability on Netflix," Juenger wrote.

I couldn't agree more.

The likes of Viacom and Disney should limit their content availability on Netflix (et al) right down to zero. It's long past time those dinosaurs and their ilk died.

Memo to the mentally aged: This is the 21st Century ffs.
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charliebrown (profile), 3 Jul 2012 @ 9:04pm

Video On Demand
I was thinking about this last night. See, if it all goe through one compny, like Netflix, then we have another monopoly on our hand. But if each company/person put up their on VoD service, you'd have to visit half a doze different sites to watch all the hows you like. What to do?

Not that it makes much difference here in Australia where we have catch-up TV and not much else.
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Anonymous Coward, 3 Jul 2012 @ 9:08pm

I agree with Leigh. How are Disney and Viacom supposed to steer the viewership of a group of kids that don't see commercials?
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Anonymous Coward, 3 Jul 2012 @ 9:10pm

Re:
with advice like this, the wait just got shorter
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Anonymous Coward, 3 Jul 2012 @ 9:12pm

Its mindboggling why the content industry won't let people like Netflix pay them. I don't even think netflix is a great model but its still big content shooting themselves in the foot by trying to limit licenses.
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Anonymous Coward, 3 Jul 2012 @ 9:12pm

Re: Video On Demand
A natural monopoly is a different beast from an imposed monopoly.

In the natural way, when it is time to die, it dies off naturally, an imposed one somebody, somewhere keeps it alive harming the natural flow.
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The Mighty Buzzard (profile), 3 Jul 2012 @ 9:17pm

Re: Viacom & Disney?
People first; shareholders and corporations dead last.

Oh, now there's a brilliant business model... You had it almost perfectly worked out then you say something that completely opposes what you had correct.

Shareholders first, last, and every point in between.

That kind of necessitates that you stay in business, yeah? Which means you have to know what people want and sell it to them. Not because you give a damn about what they want but because it will make money for your shareholders. That absolutely requires they go by what you said prior to the quoted sentence.

The big media aren't dicks for trying to make money, though they are for the anti-capitalistic tactics they use. They're morons for not knowing how to keep making money or cowards for knowing how and being too afraid to do it.
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PopeyeLePoteaux, 3 Jul 2012 @ 9:19pm

And then...
...they will continue bitching about how "piracy" is "killing" thier business.

Gotta love the "logic" behind MAFIAA's reasoning; "we don't want to let our content be distributed but then we blame when people "steals" it".
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PopeyeLePoteaux, 3 Jul 2012 @ 9:20pm

Re:
Exactly! How the hell do they expect me to buy their stuff if they are not actually trying to sell it to me?
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Anonymous Coward, 3 Jul 2012 @ 9:36pm

Good luck with that. Things like wrestling on SciFi Channel (or whatever they call it) and pulling shows I like off of TV is what has driven me to Hulu, Netflix, YouTube, and other online on-demand sources. Any attempt to "steer viewership" to Television from on-demand sources will only make Disney and Viacom less relevant.

My parents would have watched the new Dallas, but it's on a cable channel they don't get and it's not available on Hulu. Oh, well. I guess Dallas looses two pairs of eyeballs they might have had. My parents might watch it online/on Hulu. but they are certainly not going to subscribe to a higher cable plan. Trying to steer people to cable TV fails, and Dallas becomes completely irrelevant, in this case.
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Anonymous Coward, 3 Jul 2012 @ 9:38pm

Re: Re: Viacom & Disney?
So how come big media's shareholders aren't revolting and demanding that they do something--anything--besides try to hold on to the past?
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Anonymous Coward, 3 Jul 2012 @ 9:46pm

You really have to wonder - WHY do the incumbent players want to keep the old model? The need to capture as big an audience as possible with each program, because there are only so many hours in the day to broadcast, and even fewer where advertisers will really pay well. The networks end up gambling over and over again on which programs they'll produce or syndicate, and at the end of the day, their lunch is getting eaten from both ends.

With Netflix, the incumbents can leverage their massive back catalog (something especially true with children's programming) to capture the long tail of viewers, without worrying about the friday night lineup, changing schedules and demographics, or syndication. This should be seen as utterly fantastic and a way out of the corner they're being painted into, but instead it's nothing but passive aggression and walled gardens as the current players refuse to realize that Netflix is actually providing value, and not just making money off of the content they provide.
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Christopher (profile), 3 Jul 2012 @ 9:47pm

Re: Idiot
Good point. Many parents try to limit how much TV their children watch (I personally think it's a bad idea to try to do that, it just makes your kids resent you) so they do not get fat (though that is more coming from lack of exercise and high-calorie intake).

Netflix's online portion gives parents a lot of control over their children's watching.
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Christopher (profile), 3 Jul 2012 @ 9:49pm

Re:
Ah, mainly because they want to control when people watch things so that they don't have the ability to say "This episode sucks!" after watching a few minutes of it and switch to something else to watch.
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The Mighty Buzzard (profile), 3 Jul 2012 @ 9:51pm

Re: Re: Re: Viacom & Disney?
Can't see past the end of their own noses, most likely. That is if they're even paying attention. I certainly wouldn't put my money into a company that is so publicly destroying themselves.
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Atkray (profile), 3 Jul 2012 @ 10:12pm

Re:
�The made a new Dallas?
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Anonymous Coward, 3 Jul 2012 @ 10:22pm

"We remain firm in our belief Viacom and Walt Disney should limit their content availability on Netflix."

Because limiting content availability is SUCH a good idea...
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varagix, 3 Jul 2012 @ 10:33pm

Re: Re: Video On Demand
Unless of course the natural monopoly uses its early massive market share to lobby for imposed monopoly powers. Whether its governments, businesses, or anything else, when people obtain a certain amount of power, many refuse to simply let that power slip away. It takes an individual with a lot of moral character to let go when doing so is the best thing for society.
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Andy (profile), 3 Jul 2012 @ 11:26pm

Obviously not a parent
This guy is obviously not a parent - Kids will watch TV- and usually the same thing over an over. If this is mixed with reading to them and physical acticity it is not necessarily bad. Netflix allows kids to watch the rpetitive shows easily. Also, I have found it a great way to bond with my son - he loves when I sit down with him to watch G.I. Joe, Transformers and TMNT - what a blast to be able to share my favorites with him.
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Anonymous Coward, 3 Jul 2012 @ 11:35pm

TV Analyst Fail
Hello, Mr TV Analyst, are you awake? It is the mothers making the decision on what the kids will watch, not the kids. Unless you understand that point, then your chances of coming to any correct conclusions are close to zero.

Oh wait, you did not come to any correct conclusions, anyway. Hmm. How long have you been a TV analyst for? Is anybody foolishly paying you for your analytical skills?
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fogbugzd (profile), 3 Jul 2012 @ 11:38pm

Re:
Wow doesn't begin to cover how clueless this advice is. Suppose both Viacom and Disney eliminate all their on-demand offerings. That would still leave dozens of other sources of online content. It isn't the oligopoly situation big media is used to. If one source goes away, two more will pop up in its place.

I see exactly the phenomenon described in the article happening in our family. The variety of programming gives parents plenty of choices, and there is some very good content to choose from. There are no commercials for sugared breakfast cereal or toys. The content is good enough to be the basis of a lot of family discussions.

The one thing I have noticed is the fierce brand loyalty the kids and the whole family develop to the shows they watch. There is a ton of merchandise being sold for even minor programs. If Disney wants to cut itself off from the kids market, I can't think of a more effective method than the one that Juenger recommends.
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 12:21am

Go Disney!! NOT!
Yeah this is a perfect plan to get people back to the TV. What could possibly go wrong? Right? Exactly!

This is actually a pretty good idea if you're looking to turn people to piracy that is.
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Seegras (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 1:03am

The Iron Price
Yeah, just go on showing off your goods in Riverrun, and then telling people to buy them, they need to go to Kings Landing.

And then you're wondering why people pay the Iron Price?
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fogbugzd (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 1:05am

Re: Re:
Yep. Complete with Larry Hagman as J.R. Ewing.
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Josef Anvil (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 1:25am

How do I get THAT job?
I want to be a TV analyst. Seems all I have to do is watch what is trending, misinterpret it, and then give the worst possible advice; then get paid for it.

SWEET
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Blatant Coward (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 1:33am

Re: Obviously not a parent
I spent a week with my inlaws and their 3 year old. Any time the kid was in 4 yards of a screen, it had to be showing Pocahontas. Failure to do so would detonate what I called 'The Scream Bomb'.

The parents who had much more immunity due to being sprayed by some umbilical juices at birth called it being a little fussy. The kid would stand in the middle of her detonation space and inhale for a solid 6 seconds, like a single WHOOOOooooooooooooooooooop. This was your last warning.

Then the screams would start, staccato, long pulsing shrieks, I swear this kid was screaming in three pitches at once. I never saw one take less than 20 minutes, the kid was Avatar deprived for the time the FBI warning took to play. The other 18 minutes was pure rage. These people carried 6 copies of Pocahontas at all times.

"Moms are increasingly directing their kids to alternative viewing modes for content control, commercial avoidance and time management" No, it's to avoid scream bombs, and it's NOT new, there are many worn out multiple copies of VCR tapes that reek of pablum.
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Zakida Paul (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 1:39am

Another bloody brain fart
And putting ideas in Disney's heads. They already hold Mickey Mouse hostage by not letting him ascend up into the Public Domain so you just know they will take this brain fart seriously.
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Rikuo (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 1:57am

"Hey boss, I got a great idea on how to increase sales"
"Go on..."
"We should go back to the old days, limit access to our content as much as possible, and say to our customers that the way they're viewing content is wrong. It doesn't matter at all what they want, they're just the unwashed masses".

At this point, I'm not surprised that the higher ups at Disney are okay with this sort of thinking, that actively saying that you will deny customer demand is somehow a good thing.

Analyst Guy - If your customers clearly want to watch their shows on Netflix, LET THEM! However, if you limit access, DO NOT and I repeat, DO NOT come back crying woeful tales of piracy destroying your company.
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Pete Austin, 4 Jul 2012 @ 2:00am

Nothing to see here
The sample size was 16
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Alana (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 4:18am

In completely unrelated news, ACTA is defeated.

http://torrentfreak.com/acta-is-dead-after-european-parliament-vote-120704/
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Torg (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 4:20am

Re: Sage Advice
That would mean that this generation won't have access to Avatar or the old Spongebob, and Phineas and Ferb would be stuck on television. In exchange, kids wouldn't have to watch...oh, wait, Netflix is on-demand. There's no reason that having something available on Netflix could ever be bad, since watching anything on it is completely voluntary. The only positive that I can see coming from Disney and Viacom completely cutting off Netflix is kids finding My Little Pony quicker, and that's a really weak silver lining.
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That Anonymous Coward (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 4:24am

Re:
Because they are scared they will not still have enough money to do piles of blow off a hookers ass without all of the money they are used to getting for commercials.

They always made their money doing this, and change is bad!

VHS was going to destroy them!!!!
Yet they created artificial demand for their product on tape and made more money than before.

DVD sales let them pump forced commercials onto the masses and collect some more money for each disc sold.

Now offering just the content without all of the extra fluff is what the consumers want, it is much easier to say we have to stop this!!!! than to spend the time figuring out how to make it work.

You do not want an entire generation running around feeling entitled to getting content how, where, and when they want it... they might expect it as they grow older. And that could lead to them looking at alternate sources for the material like their parents did.
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abc gum, 4 Jul 2012 @ 4:59am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Viacom & Disney?
Apparently in some corporations, the board does not have to follow what the shareholders vote for. Here are a few of many articles

http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2012/04/17/shareholders-reject-citi-pay/

http://blogs. wsj.com/deals/2012/06/25/could-the-u-k-s-shareholder-spring-cross-the-pond/
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 5:01am

Re:
Good news everyone, I've discovered a way to make it happen faster!

Just touch yourself at night.
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memiselfandi, 4 Jul 2012 @ 5:05am

Re: Video On Demand
"I was thinking about this last night. See, if it all goe through one compny, like Netflix, then we have another monopoly on our hand. But if each company/person put up their on VoD service, you'd have to visit half a doze different sites to watch all the hows you like. What to do?

Not that it makes much difference here in Australia where we have catch-up TV and not much else."

Easy solution, use a mediacenter program like XBMC and addons that let you access all those different sites from one interface (commercials and all). It works fine for HULU.

But I do believe it's too late, the ship has sailed, the genie is out of the bottle, big content missed the boat, the void has been filled with easy to access and nearly impossible to track infringing content.

I would be willing to watch commercials again but NOTHING would ever motivate me to return to cable. It would be like going back to using an icebox after using a refrigerator.

A rant brought to you by a citizen of the 21st century.
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Pink floyd, 4 Jul 2012 @ 5:16am

HAHAAAAA
so what does disney do ? releases tron on the web for free....
HAHAHA ya ok ....no really lets get kids downloading cause what? they can control that cause they got isps bent over ?
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CAPT CANADA, 4 Jul 2012 @ 5:24am

@13
NOTE its not the sci fi channel no more ..hasn't been for a long long time they changed to syfy channel and now i think they are the Dw channel ..dinnosaur wrestling channel and i saw wrestling and its awful compared to what it once was....
seriously awful...lol
don't worry its its last bread winner and its slowly dying off....
people with a brain get ready for the revolution
me and others are teaming up to do the sci fi you love or we think you might....
and it will all be free with a donate button
4 seasons of one show are written , the sketching is ongoing
and the only thing left is to garner some voices for the animations....
we don't need actors we just need voices....
i got that covered too. also coming from our realm will soon be games for free too.....
if the corporates cant give me entertainment ill make it....
and im gonna do something unique and ive seen aspects of it from book authors....
( ya i have an editor LOL ) and im part of the new generation that will replace the old....and ill write a new license called GO the heck ahead and do as you want ....screw creative commons and attribution enjoy recreate and have fun, also as i go ill release new meshes and imagery and tutorials so everyone can do it.....its not about making money its about the art, then this is what one must do....opensource the making and doing and sharing....

I am what hollywood fears....I am the NEW FOX PIRATE....and i don't care about them.
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phlynhi (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 5:30am

The who penned this report works for TiVo
perhaps the report should read:
"We remain firm in our belief Viacom and Walt Disney should limit their content availability on Netflix... So that everyone will still use TiVo.

http://www.thearf.org/am-speaker-juenger
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 5:30am

Re:
Suck it, Ron Kirk!
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 6:10am

Re:
The content industry are on drugs and always has been. Look at actors, for example, always in rehab.
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 6:10am

Re: And then...
No, drugs are destroying their brains. These people are mostly on drugs.
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 6:26am

Re:
In other, even more completely unrelated news, the people at CERN think that they might have found the Higgs Boson:

http://press.web.cern.ch/press/PressReleases/Releases2012/PR17.12E.html

We don't celebrate the 4th of July here in Europe (read: no skipping work), but this is turning out to be a great day regardless ;)
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 7:02am

Re: @13
Creative common does have CC0, a (non-attribution) �No Rights Reserved� licence.
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 7:44am

Re: Re:
I believe that is a little too late for that, and entire generation already grew up having no restrictions all those kids born in the 90's are now becoming young adults.
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 7:49am

Meta: stale cache?
I can't seem to get a fresh view of the front page of Techdirt anymore. Reloading it hasn't done anything for the past 14 hours, and normally the largest gap between posts (other than over the weekend) is perhaps 4 hours. I'm not using any sort of cache or proxy here and I don't think my ISP is transparently caching web requests either. This just suddenly started at, apparently, eight last night. Could it be something at Techdirt's end, perhaps involving your webhost?
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Prashanth (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 7:50am

Not seeing their own words
They're admitting that there is something better, that makes more money then their legacy business models. I think it's astounding how they're blind to the wisdom of their own words.
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The Groove Tiger (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 8:22am

Re: Re: Re:
And Patrick Duffy as the Man from Atlantis.
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Leigh Beadon (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 8:29am

Re: Meta: stale cache?
It's 4th of July - day off for Mike and all the other Americans :) We do have an update on the ACTA vote coming out soon, but other than that, regular posting resumes tomorrow!
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 8:41am

Re: Re: Meta: stale cache?
It might be now, but it certainly wasn't at 8 last night. Usually there's at least one post between 8 and midnight on a weekday.
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 8:45am

Re: @13
Syfy's downfall was not having a greater imagination.
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 8:50am

Re: Sage Advice
Absolutely my sentiment exactly. I would love nothing more than for Disney and Viacom to resuce their visibility and dominance in the video on demand segment and leave that space to the innovative, customer-friendly content companies that will embrace that space. I'll enjoy the moment when my kids ask 'Dad, what's Disney?'
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Leigh Beadon (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 8:53am

Re: Re: Re: Meta: stale cache?
Yup - you got it. Last post went out at 8pm pacific time last night. We generally treat the day before a holiday more or less like a friday (on fridays, last post is always just after 7:30)
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 8:53am

Re: Re: Sage Advice
reduce
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TaCktiX (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 9:03am

Re: How do I get THAT job?
1. Recognize Trends
2. Notice what Trends my employers want to see
3. Give faulty recommendations based on 2.
4. ???
5. Profit!
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teka (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 9:03am

Re:
The "Disney Vault" already shows us how much they love ideas like this.

sidenote: Happy Treason Day Everyone!
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Torg (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 9:22am

Re: Re: Sage Advice
But how are children supposed to know to brush their teeth if they've never heard Chip Skylark's My Shiny Teeth And Me?
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 9:34am

Re: Re: Re: Meta: stale cache?
I usually don't read one or two posts every day.
That way I have something left over to get me thru the times like this and the weekends.
Come Monday morning the spasms and shaking are barely noticeable.
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Andrew D. Todd, 4 Jul 2012 @ 9:40am

A Better Family Breakfast (to fogbugzd, #22)
I was reading Nikki and David Goldbeck, _The Supermarket Handbook_, 1973. This is partly a shopper's guide, and partly a cookbook, with recipes for alternatives for all the more commercial foods, eg. make your own lemonade instead of soda pop.

One interesting item is what Nikki Goldbeck called The Kibbutz Meal, a kind of cold smorgasbord for breakfast, with almost no cooking required. You take about twenty assorted pots and jars and bowls, representing all major food groups, out of the refrigerator, and put them on the table, and let everyone help themselves. Afterwards, you put everything back in the refrigerator again, and use it for supper, or for breakfast the next day. Eggs are present in the form of hard-boiled eggs (cooked in bulk in advance, and kept in the refrigerator), and there's an assortment of salad vegetables, various dairy products, preserved fish (sardines, herring, etc.), various kinds of bread, and presumably you could add cold cuts if you liked. There is a discard bowl for eggshells, rinds, etc., simplifying clean-up. If some of the vegetables start looking a bit "fatigued," you pull them, and use them for soup or stew instead. Obviously, this system is a fussy eater's delight.

Advertisers and television executives would hate The Kibbutz Meal. It's completely unbranded.
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 9:53am

Makes you wonder about the validity of the advice that is given out by Bernstein.
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 10:01am

Re: The who penned this report works for TiVo
Wow! People still use Tivo?
I wonder if it is the same people that still pay AOL for email.
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TtfnJohn (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 10:10am

Circular argument?
�Viacom and Disney should do everything in their power to steer viewership toward modes with the best long-term economics, namely traditional TV and emerging forms of TV Everywhere VOD.�

OK, so Mr Consultant comes along and writes the report his employers mostly want to hear then...right at the end as he recommends continuing the stare into the rear view mirror be also adds VOD. Which, in many ways, is what Netflix is. Hulu too if they'd recognize that the border between Canada and the States has never really existed when it comes to broadcast and who cares anyway? (We even get the same ads now!) He may, of course, be referring to an as yet imaginary VOD service for Disney and Viacom only.

As others have asked "how much was he paid for this"?
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 10:10am

Dirty little pirates killed ACTA!

/MAFIAA
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 11:19am

Re: And then...
and your just as stupid as them, they don't want their content seen, don't watch it, but nothing gives you the right to steal it
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DannyB (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 11:56am

Re:
It's not just wrestling on the SciFi Channel, but it's Ancient Aliens on the History Channel, and Ghosthunters and Oddities on the Science Channel.
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Vincent Clement (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 12:00pm

My youngest loves On Demand via our Cable TV provider. I constantly see the On Demand queue full of kids shows.

This idea about steering viewers is completely out of date. I like the new show Longmire on A&E, but by 10 pm on a Sunday, I'm ready to hit the sack. So I record it and watch at a more convenient time.

From my point-of-view, traditional TV does not represent a medium with the best long-term economics.
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BeeAitch (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 1:30pm

Re: Re: And then...
But technology gives me the right to copy it, whether you like it or not. Too bad, so sad.
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Digitalistically Speaking (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 2:34pm

Talking to 16 Moms is hardly an analysis
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Hephaestus (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 3:05pm

Re:
I had the same thought. If the parents are using NetFlix, Roku, RedBox, etc. Then how is Disney supposed to get their hooks in the children?
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Hephaestus (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 3:05pm

Re:
I had the same thought. If the parents are using NetFlix, Roku, RedBox, etc. Then how is Disney supposed to get their hooks in the children?
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Hephaestus (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 3:05pm

Re:
I had the same thought. If the parents are using NetFlix, Roku, RedBox, etc. Then how is Disney supposed to get their hooks in the children?
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Hephaestus (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 3:06pm

Re: Re:
oops, need to replace the batteries on the wireless keyboard.
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Grant, 4 Jul 2012 @ 3:13pm

the thing is, they are assuming there will be no competition online in 10 - 20 years. Just look at Youtube today, you can find plenty of original quality content. Also, Hulu is starting to create more and more content themselves. If Disney doesn't make themselves available in the format that people want, there are other players who are more than willing and capable to take their place in those formats.

they might be able to do this and force people to watch their shows on tv today. but 5 years down the road they will find themselves completely irrelevant, and with tons of competition.
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 3:27pm

Re: Re: And then...
Steal it no, copy it hell yes.
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 3:28pm

Re: Re: And then...
Steal it no, copying on the other hand yes.
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 3:40pm

Let the new generation learn a better way, and let the mummies be buried forever.
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Anonymous Howard, Cowering, 4 Jul 2012 @ 3:47pm

TWO focus groups?
SIXTEEN parents in total?

Can we get "Juengering" into the lexicon?

One who is guilty of Juengering has an overwhelming wish to be named in a "news" article, despite any and all indication(s) that the conclusion(s) drawn are unlikely to be representative of fact.

This would fit nicely alongside "Streisand effect" and "Carreon effect" and be of great use when discussing Chiefs of Police who equate IP addresses with SWAT targets, LEOs who believe recording their public duties is illegal, et cetera.
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Eponymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 4:27pm

Re:
Maybe there is a demand in the market for a Kickstarter + Hulu type venture; a crowdsourced platform where viewers put money up for the shows to be aired they want to view.
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Torg (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 5:01pm

Re: Re:
Vodo's trying, but it isn't doing it very well.
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 5:13pm

Yay!!!!! That's less Disney (c) (tm) merchandise that the kids will ask for as we stroll through Toys-R-Us..

Kids will now only be asking for action figures of characters as-seen-on Netflix.
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 5:20pm

Re: Re: And then...
Isn't it ironic that you call someone stupid literally three words after misusing "your" when you actually meant to say "you're" as in "you are"? I won't even begin to discuss the rest of your sentence, but suffice it to say you shouldn't be calling anyone stupid.

Oh, and stealing requires that someone be deprived of something. What you meant to say was "nothing gives you the right to commit copyright infringement".

Just wanted to help you out there, stupid.
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 6:06pm

Re: Re: And then...
I have every right to copy what I want.
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 6:27pm

I love how this guy thinks he and his buddies are part of this dictatorship that tells consumers how it is:

Big content to consumers: "You do not have a choice in what you'll watch, when you'll watch it, or to ignore any detail of the entire broadcast including its commercial advertising."
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Cynyr (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 7:18pm

Re: TV Analyst Fail
actually my kids (4 and 6) know they each get 2 short shows or 1 long one in the morning. They turn the tv on (after asking) and the PS3, and fire up netflix and pick a show from the "just for kids" part. There has been a lot of spider man, some sort of super hero show involving wolverine, thor, and some others, and bay blades on recently.

Anyways, they do know what commercials are, they are the point in the show to get up and ask for more water or go to the bathroom etc.
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JEDIDIAH, 4 Jul 2012 @ 9:53pm

Are these people using the same Netflix I am?
Well, there's a lot of stuff that's on cable that isn't on Netflix or iTunes yet. Some people drone on about how Netflix is great for kids but I think they are on crack. The selection is limited and what they do have isn't complete. If anything, I think this is all about parents forcing dire compromises on kids that really don't have any other option.

I think the biggest challenge to cutting the cord is the aforementioned childrens programming. Disney et al is already keeping it away from Netflix. They don't need anyone to tell them to.
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That One Guy (profile), 4 Jul 2012 @ 10:00pm

Re: The who penned this report works for TiVo
That's just... How can anyone take someone with such a massive conflict of interest seriously? Might as well have the tobacco industries put out a study on their products and it's effects... oh, wait, they did that. Someone remind me how that went again?
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Anonymous Coward, 4 Jul 2012 @ 11:17pm

Re: Re: And then...
I don't "steal" their content, as you put it, and I have no intention to. However, if people have legal access to content and it is suddenly taken away, and these consumers are insinuated to be thieves for having said legal access, don't expect them to be happy.
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PopeyeLePoteaux, 5 Jul 2012 @ 12:23am

Re: Re: And then...
Interesting, you call me stupid, yet you are driven bay the same faulty logic as theirs.

Copying is not theft because no property is lost.

Second, and most stupid thing is content cartels creating something and not expanding their distribution platforms, if the content has a big target audience and it has created a fan base, you don't limit the access to the content, that's ultimately stupid, as I said before; how are they expecting people to buy their stuff if they are NOT trying to sell it? THAT'S STUPID, rejecting a distribution tool way more efficient like the internet is istupid because you are depriving their target audience of the content they are suposedly trying to sell.

Then they equate infringement and theft, and say that "piracy" is killing their business. If they limit the access to their content, people will try to find ways to access their content, it is not stealing, it is a consequence for a bad distribution model, "piracy" or infringement is caused by the LACK of legal options in this case.

Seriously, if you can't get a handle on this you have no hope.
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monkyyy, 5 Jul 2012 @ 1:43am

Re: Re: And then...
nature gave me the right, much like free speech,

its something that is easy to do but hard to stop and it only hurts idiots

if u trolls want to complain to nature about making the wrong choice in this matter, mind bringing up how over eating makes me fat is stupid
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AC, 5 Jul 2012 @ 5:07am

Proper Frame of Reference
I like Techdirt and typically appreciate the perspective presented, but in this case I think this article is a bit misleading. Juenger is a financial analyst, and his comments are directed at investors. The results of his focus group is clear, but he is presenting the information to "assist" Disney/Viacom in maintaining their add revenue, not to point out evolving business models. Maybe that is another report he can charge his clients for!
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Tech Mom, 5 Jul 2012 @ 6:24am

Really?
Sounds like Mr. Juenger spends his spare time switching deck chairs on the Titanic. I don't think Disney/Viacom has any trouble maintaining their ad revenue or does, from what I've seen, any other network. Not only have they seem to have added more commercials, they're adding product placement in their shows. Does he also suggest getting rid of DVRs? I don't watch live TV anymore...I record everything and fast forward through the commercials. Eventually, companies will realize that and network ad revenue with "suffer" anyway.
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Jul 2012 @ 6:29am

Re: Proper Frame of Reference
How is giving advice that stimulates the decrease of spending on the part of people in the official distribution channels good for maintaining anything?
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Anonymous Coward, 5 Jul 2012 @ 7:22am

Oh boy! I LOVE getting less and less and paying more and more every year!

And I LOVE it when TV analysts try to make my life more difficult and miserable!

Is there a company more in touch with their customers then these guys?
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Niall (profile), 5 Jul 2012 @ 8:02am

Re: Re:
Good one, may I (as a Brit) steal it? Although I may call it 'High Treason' :)
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Anonymous Howard, 5 Jul 2012 @ 8:06am

Re: Re:
+1 for Futurama
-1 for Family Guy
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SujaOfJauhnral (profile), 5 Jul 2012 @ 8:08am

Re: Re: And then...
Copying =/= Stealing

P.S. stupid.
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SujaOfJauhnral (profile), 5 Jul 2012 @ 8:15am

Re: Re: Obviously not a parent
Funniest thing I have read in a long time, 'Scream Bomb' hahaha.
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Jim G., 5 Jul 2012 @ 10:08am

"Hey you kids! Watch my commercials!"
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Digitari, 5 Jul 2012 @ 10:49am

Re:
..and pay me to mow my lawn for me, then get the hell of of it...........
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TurnerBrewer, 5 Jul 2012 @ 11:00am

Netflix
Netflix is all that my 11 year old son watches. He enjoys some of the old TV shows that Dad grew up watching. He says that he likes not having to wait thru a commercial break.
I bought my wife an IPAD this year and now she watches her shows online. We stopped watching our DirecTV, so I cancelled it 10 months ago. Netflix for $8 plus purchasing TV shows via ITUNES is alot cheaper than the $95 DirecTV bill.
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Tex Arcana (profile), 8 Jul 2012 @ 8:00pm

Goe to prove he's NOT a journalist, and instead is an industry shill, bought and paid for by Di$ney et al.

Of COURSE streaming content is a threat to their "industry models"!! They can't dictate what propaganda our children watch if it's uncommercialized and on-demand, now can they?? Instead of shoving their penises--I MEAN, their "religion" (see http://www.lolzilla.net/images/65833384040483307357.jpg for clarification) down our kids' throats, they see us lowly parents as being to stupid to properly edumacate our kidlets ("YOU MUST BUY OUR CRAP", "YOU MUST WATCH ONLY WHAT WE TELL YOU TO WATCH", "YOU MUST LISTEN TO WHAT THE OVERLOARDS SAY AND DO IT", "YOU MUST PAY FULL PRICE FOR EVERYTHNG WE DEEM TO BELONG TO US", "ARGUMENT NOT ALLOWED").

Yeah, it makes turning us into shuffling, lockstepping, zombie drone slaves SO much harder!! :tard:
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Ed Allen, 12 Jul 2012 @ 12:58pm

Re: Netflix is actually providing value, and not just making money off of the content they provide.
But these people think that Netflix being able to be paid for satisfying customers means
that Netflix is "stealing" money they should be getting.

Customers being willing to pay more for the same content just because it is available
at a time and place of their choosing fills their heads with the delusion that they
did not charge Netflix enough for that content, totally ignoring that Netflix
and Hulu add value by providing the content on demand.

Not being able to adjust what content and when to match what customers are willing
to pay for is why potential customers move into piracy initially and the Media companies'
arrogant atitude assures that those potential customers will never submit to their abuse again.
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