WealthEsteem.org :: Psychology of the Deal

Channel Ten Australia has finally signed a deal to allow digital broadcast to Foxtel’s cable and satellite subscribers. Until now channels Ten and Seven has only been available on Foxtel cable as an analogue retransmission. This meant that Foxtel’s digital Electronic Program Guide did not list Ten’s or Seven’s schedule.

In the new media world not being in an EPG make you invisible. It doesn’t matter that I can scan while channel surfing, I rely on the description that pops up on screen or on the EPG. Until last year I would go online and look it up, but I finally got tired of that. So as a result my family watch precisely one (1) hour of channel Ten per week. We watch less channel 7.

What amazes me is that the management of these businesses obviously thought cutting a deal to be on Foxtel’s digital would not impact their ratings. Instead it allow the other Foxtel digital channels to capture eyeballs and forget about their programming. So the only way I discover their programming is to see their expensive advertising in other media.

My informal pub chat poll shows my household is not unusual. Foxtel subscribers love their remotes, their electronic program guides and their planners.  Media analysts counter that very few Australians watch Foxtel’s channels other than sport or movies. It doesn’t matter, enough of us have stopped watching Seven and Ten because it is not accessible.

Lesson: Do not get between your product and your customer.

Thankfully Ten is has now joined the party. Now seven needs to get over their C7 digital hissy fit and make their schedule available.

The threat of internet TV downloads is met head on by Disney the owner of ABC network and Pixar. ABC will be offering their prime-time TV shows like Lost and Desparate Housewives for download via their MyABC portal at http://abc.com launching in May.

The Wall Street Journal has the story on the front page today.

DISNEY PLANS to make much of its most popular programming on ABC and other channels available free anytime on the Web. The move could speed changes in TV viewing and help revive the ad business.

The big news s they’re allowing these downloads for free. They will contain advertising and the ability to fast forward and rewind. The shows are already available for video iPod via iTunes, but ABC understands advertising business models, so they’re playing with their advertising to make an event of the launch. Should be interesting.

Great move, they’ve siezed the day and decided to grab the market before someone else eats their lunch.

It looks like Steve Jobs may be teaching them to unclench their grip.

Last Friday, Nella and I saw 28 Days Later directed by Danny Boyle.

This is one of the scariest movies I have ever seen. I see it marketed as a horror movie but that is just plain wrong. Actually horror is correct if you use the pre-splatter film definition of the term. 28 Days Later invokes dread and fear for our heroes. I even considered covering my eyes at one spot. It is all done with suggestive editing. There is hardly any gore (but there is enough to set the scene).

This is the mother of zombie movies. It is also a top flight thriller. Basically a quick incubating and highly infectious virus called Rage is unleashed on humankind. 28 Days after initial exposure, London (and England) is a ghost town. Our hero awakes from a coma to discover empty streets and and super-fast rage-infected zombies. That’s all you need to know without spoiling it. Make sure you sit through the end credits or you’ll miss something important.

Nella and I talked about this movie afterwards for at least an hour. That is how much the movie affected us.

It looks like it was shot on Digital Video and that makes the film even grittier and creepy. It’s like watching video footage of the disaster.

Watch it even if you don’t like horror movies.

Some of you know I’ve raised risk equity for feature films and independant production companies. Films and television are a passion of mine.

I’ve created the Film & TV category to write about Films and TV. The category probably won’t be too investment focused. I suspect I’ll comment on interesting trends or movies/TV I see.

Note I probably won’t write reviews. That is a skill I don’t really want to develop and there are better sites out there for reviews. Instead I’ll tell you why I reacted to the movie/show.