BitTorrent Inc. Introduces Ad-Supported Downloads

BTJunkie writes "BitTorrent Inc. is experimenting with alternatives to paid downloads on their Entertainment Network, and is now experimenting with advertising supported downloads. This news comes nearly one month after the initial release of the Entertainment Network, a possible sign of failure.'The ad-supported model is currently being tested on episodes by the video gamers network G4, but is likely to be tested on episodes from other publishers in the future. The video ads are short video clips delivered by YuMe Networks, a company that is specialized in IP based video ads. YuMe CEO Jayant Kadambi said that the company expects to deliver more user targeted video ads as soon as BitTorrent Inc. signs more deals with publishers that want to experiment with ad-supported downloads.'"

Comments

Future of downloadable media

[5, Troll]

SellaBand uses a 'DRM-free and ad supported downloads' business model for their music. You can read how it works http://www.sellaband.com/site/how-it-works.html">h ere (steps 6-7):

That together with their crowdfunding business model to fund the recording will be the future I think, or at least will play a big role in it.

Yuk

[nurb432]

Anyone else around here sick of all the ads we get bombarded with on a nearly constant basis?

Road signs, radio, tv, t-shirts, hell, even the back of police cars in some cities.

Personally i try to avoid doing businesses with companies that practice 'flooding advertisement'.

Re:Yuk

[Anonymous Coward]

In general I don't like unsolicited ads, but that is generally limited to things I pay for. I still don't like ads even on free things, but I can at least understand why they exist, especially if a non-free option exists without ads.

Just as long as they realize they *still* can't force me to look at or pay attention to their ads.

Re:Yuk

[rucs_hack]

Anyone else around here sick of all the ads we get bombarded with on a nearly constant basis?

Not really.

I use adblock while web browsing, and any site that manages to piss me off with lots of advertising never gets visited twice.

And yet I am still, through my own targeted browsing, led to devices/things I wish to purchase on-line.

I guess this is because, contrary to the statistically defined web browsing individual, I am in fact already aware of the things I want to buy, and quite capable of convincing myself as to their usefulness.

Re:Yuk

[nurb432]

Does adblock work in the car? Or while you are walking down the sidewalk?

Online ads are just one small part of the problem.

Will it pan out?

[Kelbear]

I had spoken with a friend about this sort of thing. I download tv shows because I don't want to watch tv shows on their schedule. And air times for shows are a constant battle of popularity. I don't even mind the commercials. I basically want the equivalent of free tivo. But all the TV shows are generally bittorrented without the commercials.

However, the tv shows need ad-revenue to keep going, even if the could offer the episodes with commercials, they still need to keep cycling the commercials for a flow of revenue. Plus bandwidth problems if using direct downloads for HD quality episodes.

I hoped for something like this. I loathe the current internet-based offerings on the network websites. Small resolutions, and constant re-buffering and queuing the next clip.

I just wonder if they will be able to pull this off without having the commercials easily circumvented. I have no doubt that the commercials can be circumvented, the key word here is /easily/. So that advertisers will still pay to keep the show going as long as those who don't want to go through the fuss of dodging commercials will still sit through it.

Re:Will it pan out?

[Mattwolf7]

ABC.com you can watch most of their shows online with about 3 (unskipable) 30 second commercials, they aren't HD, but I haven't had any re-buffering problems from their website like you say you have.

Interesting.

[flitty]

Entertainment is going to have to come up with SOME way to make money. TiVo has killed tv advertising. People (like me) don't want to pay for something like Television. I wouldn't mind a 2 minute commercial at the beginning of my LOST download if I could get it Legally, As fast (or faster) as i can through other means, and without commercials every 10 minutes.

Sounds like a sustainable formula to me. No DRM though, I want to be able to burn it onto a cd and watch it on my Tele, not just my small computer screen. Encode it in H.264, or DiVX or whatever is high quality.

Duh...

[Anonymous Coward]

The success of the BitTorrent protocol was largely due to people who didn't want to pay for things to begin with. Since the protocol is open source, it would be really difficult to charge for a "better" client since the code would just be forked and the pay-for version abandoned. Unfortunately, with something as relatively simple as a BitTorrent there isn't really a support revenue model either. It seems a shame that Bram isn't getting anything out of BitTorrent, but that was his choice up front.

Re:The true price of media is revealed!

[AmiMoJo]

From here: http://www.gaebler.com/Television-Advertising-Cost s.htm

"For example, a 30-second spot during the 2005 Superbowl sold for $2.4 million. Commercials during less-watched programs are more affordable, but the cost of those commercials may still run in excess of $100,000 per 30-seconds."

About 95 million people watched the Superbowl. That would seem to put it at much less than $1/viewer, or about 2.5 cents (1.25p in real money). Considering they want to charge a few pounds per program...