Bundling Old Media with New is a Boon for Piracy
August 12, 2009 – 1:47 pmHard-bundling old media offerings with new is one of the most daft market developments we have seen and arguably does nothing to combat digital piracy.
What does it look like? It typically involves some radically new and innovative digital service being available exclusively to users who also have some legacy old-school die-in-a-ditch service.
The temptation to do this is arguably understandable but not defensible. Execs need to (a) show that they are innovating but (b) protect existing revenue streams. The result is defensive innovation (sans market disruption) or otherwise hard bundling (reduced market disruption).
The core problem with this approach is that you are effectively delivering two different services to two different markets but making it the same product.
This makes no sense yet you still see formidable companies such as Verizon doing this with ePixHD which is only available when you have the Epix TV Channel.
The result is a great deal for everyone involved (Paramount, Lionsgate, MGM, Verizon) apart from the end user.
Looking to play seriously in the digital media arena and migrate users away from piracy? Hard bundling content is not the answer!