The Big Gap
The Big Gap is the place between early adapters and average consumers. The Big Gap is the difference between a single company being able to carve out a business and a whole industry being able to thrive. The Big Gap is often the difference between what people are saying and what they are doing. Right now that big gap is between Apple being able to sell TV shows on iTunes and the average customer wanting to pay for TV show downloads.
A new report from Forrester Research says people are not willing to pay for TV show downloads. This does not surprise me at all. People feel that they are already paying enough for TV. People pay a lot of money for cable, they do not want to pay more for other TV.
I am in that 9 percent, but I am still not willing to do it. I missed a couple of important episodes of Heroes, but I am not willing to pay $2 an episode to catch the ones I missed. I will just watch something else instead.
I know that television producers have made a lot of money with TV shows on DVD. TV shows DVDs have been big sellers. I think that people see downloads as different than DVDs. I think the downloads are not as friendly or collectible as the DVDs. Until people can burn downloads onto DVD I think this problem will continue.
Television producers face a real problem. They will have a problem passing along any more cost along to the consumer. Consumers are going to spend their money else where. The 30 second ad is coming to an end. Television producers and networks have to find a new way to get advertisers messages across. That might mean less revenue for them. That will turn the world of television up side down.
Lets see if the Apple TV has any power to change this. I do not think it will.
A new report from Forrester Research says people are not willing to pay for TV show downloads. This does not surprise me at all. People feel that they are already paying enough for TV. People pay a lot of money for cable, they do not want to pay more for other TV.
Only a sliver of the video-viewing masses -- about 9 percent -- have the know-how, time, money and patience to surf the Internet for programming, according to the Forrester report.
I am in that 9 percent, but I am still not willing to do it. I missed a couple of important episodes of Heroes, but I am not willing to pay $2 an episode to catch the ones I missed. I will just watch something else instead.
I know that television producers have made a lot of money with TV shows on DVD. TV shows DVDs have been big sellers. I think that people see downloads as different than DVDs. I think the downloads are not as friendly or collectible as the DVDs. Until people can burn downloads onto DVD I think this problem will continue.
Television producers face a real problem. They will have a problem passing along any more cost along to the consumer. Consumers are going to spend their money else where. The 30 second ad is coming to an end. Television producers and networks have to find a new way to get advertisers messages across. That might mean less revenue for them. That will turn the world of television up side down.
Lets see if the Apple TV has any power to change this. I do not think it will.
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