Yesterday's LA Times carries the story that Sirius is having problems staying on top filesharing of the Howard Stern show. Stern moved to the $12.95 a month satellite service last year and the move lead to a huge increase in subscribers.
What I don't get is why Sirius is taking such a heavy handed approach to copies on the internet which often turn up a few hours after the show has been broadcast.
You've got huge demand there. Stick a copy on the web after the show has been broadcast. You could even charge a couple of dollars a month for an immediate download of the show in high quality as soon as the show has finished. It'd save fans hunting around the web and networks for downloads.
Considering his show is downloaded nearly as much as The Simpsons it shouldn't be difficult to get a couple of million subscribers a month paying to download. Hit that level and you've paid for Stern's $500 million contract. The money you then bring in from subscriptions to the satellite service is profit.
The biggest driver for filesharing is not price. It's access to content and ease of use. If your service does not offer what fans want, easily they'll download from the filesharing networks.
Locking your content away, missing opportunities and suing potential customers is not a longterm business model.
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