Having been at a loose end on Sunday evening, I thought would venture into buying a film from Sky BoxOffice. Flicked through the films available, not that many, and then start times, not really on demand yet, found a film and then proceeded to purchase. So leaving the customer service aspect to one side, as I had no phone connection to the box, we get to the price for this 'one shot' viewing of the film.
The price for this 2 hour viewing was £3.95 plus a £1 booking fee over the phone so £4.95 in total, that's a whisker off $10. We have had so many discussions internally and externally with content owners about pricing and how consumers might be put off paying high prices, but it comes down to simple supply and demand, if you have a product I want then I will pay for it. For some reason we don't appear to be capable of applying the same logic to delivery over the internet, or network, and I don't just mean a PC, but to next generation TV's etc. Why do we find it so difficult to accept that Satellite and cable are so different, it's just another network, where the same financial policies apply, if you have something I want, then, I will pay for it.
Our minds are probably attuned to the fact that digital goods on the net are free, we access them through a browser on the computer, therefore, free applies. This is just not the case for the next explosion of 'connected' living room devices. The browser is not apparent and the internet connection is way behind the scenes. So there is a new paradigm here where we can get the price right. We have thrown off the chains of complicated browsers and PC's that crash and moved into the world of using the internet as a delivery mechanism, so why shouldn't content be priced the same as cable etc. The issue here is one of price point as for any retailer, and they will tell you reducing prices is easy, but raising them again, almost impossible.
So let's think out of the box a little and understand the world has changed and so has the way in which we consume media. As providers it's important to remember that digital products have just the same right to have a value as physical products, they are just consumed differently. So would I pay £4.95 for a film to watch once? Well i did so I must have thought that fair value. If I compare this, downloading and owning, would I pay a bit more, well yes I probably would because I am now comparing it with a cost justification from Sky, not free internet news sites.
Comments always welcome ;-)
Comments