Thus spake "Geo." <geoincidents@nls.net>
TIVO type setup with a massive archive of every show so you can not only watch this weeks episode but you can tivo download any show from the last 6 years worth of your favorite series is one heck of a draw over cable or satellite and might be enough to motivate the public to move to a different service. A better tivo than tivo.
As I've pointed out before, the pirates _are already doing this_, and it works. Unfortunately, it remains to be seen if the Net will survive 1000x as many users. P2P have interesting scaling characteristics; 1000x as many users doesn't mean 1000x as many bit-miles. In fact, higher densities may reduce the bit-miles -- and network operators pay for bit-miles, not bits.
As for making money, just stick a commercial on the front of every download.
BitTorrent, Inc. is working deals to distribute DRMed files freely over P2P and individual users would just purchase a license to view the files after the download is complete. (Of course, I assume this'll be cracked relatively soon, but like with iTMS, most people will pay anyways) The alternative is free viewing with more product placement, inline ads at the top/bottom of the screen, or a little header with "this program is brought to you commercial-free by <sponsor>", like I've seen on soccer (football to non-US folks) games. Commercials in their present form are dying fast with the advent of DVRs, and on-demand shows will destroy them -- though that won't stop some dinosaurs from trying it. S Stephen Sprunk "God does not play dice." --Albert Einstein CCIE #3723 "God is an inveterate gambler, and He throws the K5SSS dice at every possible opportunity." --Stephen Hawking