Fox Switches to 8-Day Delay "After Air" Episodes, Piracy Increases

[6souls]

Did Fox not see this coming? 8 Days after they stopped offering their tv shows to be watched for free on Hulu, piracy went crazzyyyy. This is just for normal tv shows not paid for tv shows or movies.

According to TorrentFreak Fox stopped offering free access to its TV-shows the day after they air on television. The TV-studio took this drastic step in the hope of getting more people to watch their shows live and thus make more revenue. TV-viewers, however, are outraged by the decision and have massively turned to pirated sources to watch their favorite shows.

Over the last week TorrentFreak tracked two Fox shows on BitTorrent to see if there was an upturn in the number of downloads compared to the previous weeks, and the results are as expected. For both Gordon Ramsay’s Hell’s Kitchen and MasterChef the download numbers have surged.

During the first 5 days, the number of downloads from the U.S. for the latest episode of Hell’s Kitchen increased by 114% compared to the previous 3 episodes. For MasterChef the upturn was even higher with 189% more downloads from the U.S. For MasterChef; the extra high demand may in part have been facilitated by the fact that it was the season finale.

Aside from BitTorrent, there are of course many other options for people to catch up with a missed episode. YouTube for example, from where tens of thousands of people streamed the latest Hell’s Kitchen episode.

Instead of Hulu or Fox, the pirates get the praise. On YouTube and BitTorrent sites many users thank the uploaders for making the shows available.

You so rock and allowed me to keep my promise to my son. I promised if he cleaned for one hour he could watch Hell’s Kitchen with me. He was excited and then disappointed that we couldn’t watch it on Hulu or Fox.com, WithurShield writes.

Thanks a lot for uploading these, Hulu used to be my go-to but alas, they have failed me. Minniemica adds.

On the other hand, several users who went to Hulu expecting to see a fresh episode left comments berating Fox (although most target Hulu) for their decision not to make the episodes available for free.

I couldn’t believe what I was seeing when I went to Hell’s Kitchen and Master Chef. Right in the middle of the series idiot at Hulu decided to through in the pay services. At least have the decency to wait till the end [sic], One commenter writes on Hulu.

What I don’t like is up until now I have been able to watch the episode of Hell’s Kitchen the day after it airs and all of a sudden they now want me to pay for it? Another commenter adds.

People are angry and I don't really blame them. What is Fox thinking? I get that in the short term it's better for them (money wise) but in the long term it's going to hurt them. They will have to figure out another way to make cash.

http://geektyrant.com/news/2011/8/23...acy-surge.html
http://torrentfreak.com/foxs-8-day-d...-surge-110822/

Why do I have to wait 8 days to watch my favorite FOX shows?

FOX has chosen to limit access to catch-up episodes of current shows to viewers that have subscribed to a participating pay-TV service. Paying subscribers will be able to watch these episodes the day after they air online; everyone else will be able to watch these shows 8 days after their original airing on broadcast TV. Currently, only DISH Network subscribers are eligible to see FOX shows the next day on the free services like FOX.com and Hulu. (More information about FOX's decision can be found on their website: www.fox.com/watchnewepisodes).

If a current season show from FOX is available on Hulu Plus, this show remains available the next day on the Hulu Plus subscription service. As always, you can try it out here for a free week trial.

I used to be able to watch up to 5 episodes of my favorite FOX shows for free on Hulu.com, but now there are only 4. Why did this change?

There have been changes to the network and studio licensing rules relating to FOX's decision to delay current season catch-up episodes by 8 days on a free, ad-supported online service like Hulu. If you are a free Hulu user, you will now only have access to the last 4 episodes which aired on TV, not 5 episodes like had been available in past seasons.

If you are a free Hulu user and a DISH Network subscriber, you will have access to the last 5 episodes that have aired on TV.

Hulu Plus subscribers will continue to have access to the entire current season (all episodes) that have aired if that title is available in the Hulu Plus service.

I have a Hulu account. When will I be able to watch episodes of current season FOX shows?

If you are a free Hulu user who does not subscribe to DISH Network, you will be able to watch the most current episode for free on Hulu 8 days after it airs.

If you are a free Hulu user with a DISH Network subscription, you are eligible to see FOX shows the next day on Hulu.com

If you are a Hulu Plus subscriber and the current season of a certain FOX show is available on Hulu Plus, it will remain available the day after it airs. FOX's decision should have no impact on your ability to watch these current FOX shows.

http://www.hulu.com/support/article/20362238
http://www.fox.com/watchnewepisodes
http://www.hulu.com/plus

[Katlan]

not surprised at all

[Guyverarmor]

Nice that we have "Look back" with TWC... if the the network allows it, can go back 3 days to see what was aired

[Ksandra]

Lol funny enough, I realized we forgot to watch Hell's Kitchen yesterday, so about two hours ago I went to fox to watch it and ya it requires a Satellite dish provider in order to watch it.

lolfox

at first it didn't seem so bad because they initially said you had to input your cable or dish provider. Still semi douchey but I was fine with the idea they want to make sure you're paying for the channel or w/e. But nope, dish gets priority over cable which is fucking stupid.


fail fox, fail

[Xantavia]

I don't get. Fox has Hulu on an 8-day delay for as long as I can remember. I think it was during the last season of House that I noticed the new eps. were put on the paid version, but last weeks was there like it always was.

[kuronosan]

Anyone that makes you pay to watch something you've already watched for free is fucking retarded for trying. You already pay for access to satellite or cable (or in the case of digital TV, nothing at all) so why the fuck should you have to pay to watch something that can be a) recorded b) DVR'd or c) streamed for free?

This "online digital content" bullshit is getting out of hand.

/rant

[Baelorn]

Still semi douchey but I was fine with the idea they want to make sure you're paying for the channel or w/e.

This whole idea would be less stupid if you couldn't get Fox for free with an antenna. It's a fucking broadcast station.

[Delirium]

USA has a 30 day delay on Hulu with its shows. Which sucks if I miss an episode of White Collar or Psych.

[Ksandra]

how much money do companies get by showing their stuff on Hulu?

I mean I can kinda understand in the sense they'd want you to go to the source. My biggest issue with the whole thing is they put the delay on fox.com as well. THAT'S YOUR OWN DAMN WEBSITE. Fucking put ads all over that shit and I'd still watch if I happened to miss a show.

I tend to go to the station websites in general if I want to watch something because I figured that makes sure they know I'm another viewer (so hopefully shit doesn't get cancelled). Not sure if hulu calculates it or not or what.

[Baelorn]

how much money do companies get by showing their stuff on Hulu?

I mean I can kinda understand in the sense they'd want you to go to the source. My biggest issue with the whole thing is they put the delay on fox.com as well. THAT'S YOUR OWN DAMN WEBSITE. Fucking put ads all over that shit and I'd still watch if I happened to miss a show.

I tend to go to the station websites in general if I want to watch something because I figured that makes sure they know I'm another viewer (so hopefully shit doesn't get cancelled). Not sure if hulu calculates it or not or what.

I understand why they're doing it but if they make it impossible for me to catch up on a show legally then I'm not going to feel bad about finding it elsewhere. And I sure as hell won't be buying the DVD/Blu-ray release later.

One the stupidest things I've been seeing lately is the previous season not coming out on DVD until after the new season starts. How the fuck does that make any sense?

[Cleverness]

Not really surprised, the long waits kinda suck. At least my cable on demand service gets new episodes in 1-2 days so even if I miss something I can just watch it. Although for something like House or Burn Notice or Suits I tend to want to see it asap.

Don't really see the logic to it, there's already the same number of commercials on Hulu as there would be on a normal TV showing, and whatever revenue they get from it would be better than nothing since people would just pirate it anyway, so exactly what purpose for the 8 day wait? I can understand it for anime due to subbing and such, but a normal show? It's just dumb.