Should there be a compulsory Netflix licence?

MisterMotivated

Malthusian wrote: »

Your original complaint was that you couldn't watch MotoGP without paying for a subscription package which included football and golf, so I pointed out how you can.

Yes, by paying for a day pass to all the Sky Sports channels through NowTV each time, 19 times per year; that's not really any different to paying for a subscription package that includes football and golf.

I'm aware that signing up to a betting website and depositing money may allow me to watch the race (though presumably none of the build up/commentary) on a comparatively small PC monitor, but it's not the same. I could probably also stream it for free in low quality through one of those dodgy websites, but that would spoil the enjoyment. If I want to watch it on TV now, I have to pay for a subscription service, whether it's a one day subscription or longer.

When it was on free TV you didn't buy enough of the stuff shown in the ad breaks to allow that channel to continue affording MotoGP. That's not Sky's fault.

No, it's the fault of the fiercely competitive market meaning providers are willing to spend frankly ridiculous sums of money to win the rights to big-ticket shows/events that will effectively force viewers to sign up to their services.

Or if it was on the BBC, it's no longer politically acceptable to get the taxpayer to subsidise you to watch motorbike racing.

If I, as a taxpayer, have to subsidise folk watching Songs of Praise or Gardener's World, they can absolutely pay for my bike racing entertainment. That said, I'd settle for it being on ITV/C4/C5 and buying more of the biscuits/takeaways/bladder-leak underwear/funeral plans that are being advertised.

And besides it's still virtually free (minus the expected loss of eventually trying to get the £10 back out of Bet365). You only need NowTV to watch it on a proper TV without hooking a tablet up to the TV display.

Except when your PC is nowhere near your TV...


I'm not for a minute suggesting that competition in this market is entirely a bad thing; I expect many shows wouldn't exist without Sky/Netflix/AP. But unlike many subscription-model industries (mobile, broadband, music streaming, even gym membership to some extent), where you generally decide on one provider, this industry could see people signing up with all of them, while potentially only watching one or two things on each service.