Time Warner has announced they will begin experimenting with tiered pricing schemes for their broadband Internet service that will charge customers by how much bandwidth they use in a month.
While the company’s intent may be to align itself more firmly with the Hollywood studio lawyers who are trying to go after people who illegally share movies online I guarantee you this will end badly for them. That’s because in their effort to clamp down on pirates they’re also going to broadly discourage the nascent movie downloading market.
Think about it. If I’m considering alternative ways to watch, say, the latest Pirates of the Caribbean movie, two of my options are now to rent it through iTunes or to get the physical DVD via Netflix or Blockbuster. If I’m a Time Warner cable customer I’m now adding “How much will this cost me in broadband fees” to my calculation and likely choosing obtaining the DVD. Why would I add the cost of maybe going over my current broadband allotment to the cost of the rental? I’m just not.
It’s also going to give people pause before clicking over to ABC.com to catch up on “Lost” or “Grey’s Anatomy” or even watching videos on sharing sites like YouTube. And all of those entities are kind of counting on audiences growing to meet the needs and desires of the advertisers looking to online video as one of the big growth areas of the next year or so.
Eventually, if TWC decides to roll this ridiculous plan out to other areas, the studios and networks will come a-calling. They’re not going to sit still while someone actively impedes the growth of their advertising income. That, coupled with user revolt over being charged more, will hopefully stop this nonsense before it can gain momentum.
Chris Thilk 