In reply to John C. Welch.

I am familiar with the mechanics of broadcast TV, having worked at the BBC for several years. I'm not by any means trying to argue that HBO shouldn't take their time, or even that they don't have a perfect right to do what they're doing. I'm just saying that while they're doing this, my suspicion is that they're hurting themselves.

Question by question - am I saying that having stuff on iTunes will stop piracy. No, absolutely not. But then, I'm not sure exactly what *will* stop piracy. That's actually not the question here - the question is how do you maximize revenue to the people who make the programs. That could mean that you just convert 10% of the people pirating stuff into paying customers via value add, convenience or better picture quality. This seems to me to be entirely plausible, and may be sufficient to fund these companies. Since the options at the moment appear to be (1) allow piracy to continue as is or (2) get some percentage of people who are pirating to pay money for the programs, it seems to me undeniable that 2 is the better option.

As to the eight to one number, I was actually trying to be positive here. I was working on the principle that a (say) $60 season pass, of which 2/3rds goes to the creator, results in a forty dollar income for the company. Six fours are two hundred and forty, which would be roughly the same income as from one subscription. So, eight people paying ad hoc would provide more value than one person subscription, and that's if they only buy one season a year.

So then the question is purely whether or not you could get eight people signing up for every person who stopped paying the subscription. Now, my guess is that you would, because those people who don't want a subscription would be prepared to pay, but honestly, it doesn't entirely matter either way. One way or another the number of people subscribing to cable is dropping. Apparently—according to one set of figures I looked at—by four-five percent in 2011 alone.

That trend just *exists* and companies just have to deal with it. If you can't get all your money via the cable route, then you have to look elsewhere, and it seems pretty clear that people with broadband are streaming TV twice as much as people without it and watching half as much TV. So, as people get broadband more they're choosing not to get cable TV. So if you want to make money you have to get in front of them where they're watching it.

Again, if the option is making less money per unit on iTunes sales vs. making no money at all, then it's pretty clear which is the one that's most likely to keep businesses going...