With new entrants, streaming TV sees watershed moment

As slow to act as (American) media companies are to the already web-savvy world-wide public (all happily torrenting, streaming, using xbmc, HULU, Netflix and downloading from websites with abandon), this is nothing compared to the archaic, and by now, irrelevant Japanese media companies, who have closed themselves so far off from the online world, as to make them moribund.

i watch all my US TV shows via streaming sites for free, sometimes its a little slow but if they wont make it available to customers outside the US when we want to watch it then screw them

You aren't screwing them, that's the thing. They'd rather the minority of people watch via 3rd party streaming or torrents then attempt to support them officially and deal with all the legal aspects.

i watch all my US TV shows via streaming sites for free, sometimes its a little slow but if they wont make it available to customers outside the US when we want to watch it then screw them

The UK's terrestrial channels have had FREE streaming via the internet for years. Mind you, there's not much worth watching here anycase.

annoying as i have periodically been short NFLX and been burned due to ridiculous optimism. now it finally drops.....

Japan's TV industry, much like it's Film industry (and, well, every other industry) still runs on the feudal, monopoly system. In the hands of very few companies lie all the power. Unfortunately in Japan there is a very strong cultural background to this that will be very hard to change. Those large companies will be very effective in either squashng content coming in from outside or buying up things (eg rights to certain TV shows) and holding us for ransom.

YouTube, Yahoo, etc have no choice but to block content as the rights holders ask them to.

The whole system - both in Japan and the rest of the world - is deeply flawed. Legislation will only work so far. A way to make money from these shows has to be discovered. (A few) people outside of America obviously love the Daily Show (for example) but there is no meaningful way in place to get money from 'a few people'. And, the internet has bred a generation that believe all content should be free. Soon there will be no content if a revenue model isn't found!

Anything like this will be extremely slow coming to Japan, and companies like NHK are already finding court approval to ensure they still get their money (ie. if you have a smart phone and/or personal computer you must pay). Even as it is Yahoo! video content that is recommended to you via the browser "can't be shown in your area" in many cases, and even YouTube content is sometimes blocked based on where you are or where it is from. I used to watch The Daily Show or other Comedy Network streamed shows but aside from South Park they can now no longer be seen (save on YouTube), and Japan's recent Hulu stinks by comparison with its US counterpart.

So, it's all changing, but it's changing with the same people in charge and with protectionist packages in mind.

HBO didn't make clear whether by cutting off their required link to cable subscription they would allow streaming outside the US. Currently, HBO GO requires both a cable subscription AS WELL AS a US IP address.

Who cares? If they don't make it available, then I take that as an OK to download their shows via torrent.

HBO didn't make clear whether by cutting off their required link to cable subscription they would allow streaming outside the US. Currently, HBO GO requires both a cable subscription AS WELL AS a US IP address.

No one wants to pay for "packages" - just give consumers what they want. They touch on this above, but these dinosaurs have been slower to react than the music industry was in the early 00s. No ads, no packages, no outdated set-top boxes. Just give us the damn content!

How come subscription pay for TV cable still has commercials?

The market creates new products and services that shake up the old monopolies. Innovate or step aside.