Cable Exec Suggests Changing Consumer Behavior, Not Business Model

Techdirt has pointed out yet another cable exec that just doesn't quite get it. Comcast's COO, Steve Burke, recently urged the TV industry to find ways to "get consumers to change" rather than figure out better methods to cater to demand. "'An entire generation is growing up, if we don't figure out how to change that behavior so it respects copyright and subscription revenue on the part of distributors, we're going to wake up and see cord cutting.' How many consumers, in any market, are focused on 'respecting' vendors' revenue streams? How, exactly, does he propose to effect this sea change? And why not just develop products that consumers will willingly pay for, rather than trying to change consumer behavior in such a fundamental way?"

Comments

I'm no financial wizard, but...

[BobMcD]

...I'm guessing he is correct. Its the spin being put on what he is saying that is outrageous:

The quotes really are quite stunning. Burke basically seems to be saying the focus needs to be on figuring out ways to get consumers to change, rather than changing to match what customers want. A business model based on going against what consumers want doesn't seem likely to last that long.

What I'm stunned by is the assumption that Comcast's COO should be looking for ways to give people as much content as they want without them paying Comcast a penny to receive it. Because lets be fair - this is exactly what customers want.

To color every contrary desire as stunning or greedy is just ignorant.

"products that consumers will willingly pay for"

[Interoperable]

What product would that be? The World of Goo payment experiment effectively demonstrated that when consumers can choose how much they want to pay for a valuable product they, for the most part, to pay far less than it's worth. I don't think piracy comes down to a quality issue with the product.

Don't like copyrights? Fine, write to your government representative. Don't like the product? Don't watch it. Piracy is not a statement; it's transparently self-serving and to claim otherwise is to delude yourself.

Big Content has to change it's business model, not because it's ethically wrong, but because people simply aren't going to stop violating copyrights because they're cheap.

Now I'm not saying that think that copyright is perfect. It isn't and it needs a serious reform but that isn't an excuse to violate it for your own interests.