DTH Premiere : Latest form of piracy
DTH or Direct to home premieres of latest films is the latest source of non theatrical revenues for film producers. The film is shown before it is officially premiered on Movie channels on DTH platforms for 100 or 150 bucks. The entire family can enjoy the movie watching experience at home. Total value for money when compared to the amount that one would have to shell out if the entire family would go to watch the same film in a multiplex. It is a money spinning proposition for the producers too. UTV has been in the forefront in recent times when it comes to premiering their latest films on DTH. Be it Kaminey,What’s Your Rashee or the latest movie Main aur Mrs Khanna. These films were premiered on DTH before one could bat an eye lid. Being a Tata sky subscriber myself, i regularly keep getting updates about the latest DTH releases.
But, suprisingly these DTH have releases have ended becoming the latest form of piracy. As soon as the movie is premiered via DTH, internet pirates are ready with the recorded versions of the same and available for all to download freely via internet through public sharing websites. Since it is a DTH version the clarity is mostly DVD like. At the same time, i must also confess that once or twice i’ve also been gulity of downloading these movies. In short, it all ends up adding to the vicious circle of piracy.
What companies like UTV etc need to realise that by premiering their films so prematurely on DTH they are only adding to the problem of piracy. I was really shocked to see these latest films being premiered so early on TV. Esp. Main aur Mrs Khanna which was premiered just two days after it’s theatrical release. Whatever chances it had of having an average run at the theatres were also marred by this. And then these same companies make a hue and cry about losing revenues to piracy. If a huge chunk of revenue is generated through these premieres , then so is the amount of revenue generated from their pirated prints. And come to think of it, these are the same people who are always complaining and worried about the problem of piracy and how it is eating into their business.
Being a genuine movie buff, i feel the least the concerned people can do is to defer the DTH release dates by a substantial amount of time. It may not drastically help in resolving the issue, but at least it can help in curbing the piracy problem to an extent. Atleast, this could be a small step towards the right direction
Tags: Dish, DTH, Piracy, Satellite Dish
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
This is the way ahead for low budget b-movies.
is it Piracy ????????
this will lead to another stand-off between multiplex and producers/distributors.
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why would a multiplex screen a movie which would be telecast on dth in a couple of days time.
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dth is the way to go, but they should be waiting for 3-4 weeks before they telecast it. much like video cassettes used to be out after a month of the movie being released
Aditya- I respect your concern but wish to point out a few things-
1. MAMK was premiered on DTH a week after its release and not within 2 days as mentioned by you.
2. On the pricing front – it is not 100-150 as mentioned by you.It is usually Rs.75 for a well known movie like a Kaminey or a Whats Your Raashee? and for a smaller movie it is Rs.50 like for a Aagey Se Right or a Chintuji.Only in case of MAMK have they set a price point of Rs.150 probably since they released it early.
Earlier the criteria followed was the release on DTH towards the end of the theatrical release but with Kaminey being telecast on DTH while it was still doing well in theatres ( after 4 weeks ), things have changed.Whats Your Raashee was shown 15 days into the theatrical release and now MAMK 1 week into the release.
I personally feel DTH pay per view is the way forward especially for a lot of small movies which are not so lucky on the theatrical relase.But releasing a big movie like MAMK a week after the release is ridiculous.Suffice to say piracy exists as it is conventionally and one shouldnt try to enable more options for abetting the same.
Sethu,
Some nitpicking
MAMK was premiered on Tuesday, 4 days after the release. I saw it on Tuesday evening in Tatasky.
Anand- fine still its 4 days and not 2 days
and the promos on Tata Sky and the other DTH players actually started only by thursday/friday.Anyways I saw it in a single screen for Rs.50 so looks like I got a better deal over you as you spent Rs.150 
Good one.
Anyway, it was not even worth 50/- in my opinion!!
True, it was not even worth Rs. 50.
Me too watched in Rs. 70 in a single screen.
I did not even watch MAMK, so looks like i saved 200
yeah sethu u r right…but i was just quoting estimated nos. not the exact ones…i agree that DTH is the way ahead for smaller movies like Aagey se right or a Chintuji…but not for big budget movies…because it seems so contradicting that on one hand producers complain about piracy and release these films so soon on DTH platforms….. ideally it should be released after 4-5 weeks after it’s theatrical release…..
i remember after the pirated prints of Whats ur raashee were confiscated there were no verisons of it at all after it’s release…but after the DTH premiere …the net was flooded with different versions of DTH rips….
There just has to be another option than visiting the theatres. I have a two year old daughter and therefore its been two years that me and my wife have entered the theatre. Will have to wait further till we are sure that she wont bring the whole theatre down. Thats my prob. There must be others who dont like the theatre ambience or would not like to/cant spend so much in a theatre. For them DTH or DVDs come as a boon. The whole world discusses the movie and you are left out if you have not watched it.
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Restrictions and arrests are of no use because everyone knows its business. Technology has to come to the rescue where the movie cant be copied or downloaded. Also, the theatres need to get SAT connected (UFO movies) so there’s no need of a CD to send to theatres. And I see no harm in releasing the official DVD itself after one week of film’s release.
The problem with digital files is that it’s impossible to lock a content with 100% certainty. It’s like the concept of a foolproof password, something which is mathematically impossible.
If there are ten people working on the latest encryption technologies there are another eleven working on breaking them.
I agree with you Vinay on multiple counts. I share your problem with watching movies in a theater, with a two year kid who would simply make the screening in theater halt
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But, in the business, have to watch and glut lots of movies.
Now, first of all, thanks to Aditya for bringing this issue of piracy facilitated by DTH releases. At the same time, however, I suggest the producers, distributors, multiplex/theater-owners and DTH operators should all look into this issue. Sabotaging the other for the sake of one’s own current interest being fulfilled won’t help anyone for long. Ultimately, everyone will lose. The DTH operators may be attracted by this tool as a new mode of quick revenues. Even producers with small flicks may be attracted by this as a new lease of life for their movies, returning more through satellite rights. While multiplex and theater owners will complain of dropping viewership and attendance. Producers may or may not be happy in different circumstances. But, ultimately, it will lead to a regime when it’ll be really difficult to plan big films.
Distributors like Big Cinema may be a happier lot who double up as distributors, DTH operators and multiplex owners. And, even producers. They may probably find some lucrative equations when they can gain by one or the other business and transfer a part of the proceeds to the producers. Makes a lot of sense for them. Going by this, they can actually monopolize the market some day, especially when they have enough money to put into it all.
But, what remains the concern is that if the pirates can devise technologies to make a film crash, there must be some better technocrats who can create tools to defeat the pirates. Didn’t we hear, the creator is greater than the destroyer !!!
DTH is the way to go
Multiplexes are behaving in an exclusive manner. Rather than thinking towards bringing every movie watching audience to their multiplex screens, they have very successfully alienated a majority of the audience. And high pricing is not the only factor which has eliminated the audience. Factors like fewer capacity too adds to the woes. Watching a big release in Bangalore on the first weeekend is almost impossible. Add to it, 10 pm show at PVR never starts before 10:30. Its becoming increasing painful to catch a movie in a multiplex. Multiplex in initial days became successful because of the convenience it offered. But today, the overall experience is no better than a single screen experience.
DTH should be promoted vigoruosly. It will help not just the small budget films, but big budget blockbusters as well. I have many friends who have invested heaving in setting up a home theatre at home. Such people dont like to visit multiplex and end up watching movie on a pirated dvd. DTH can successfully tap into that market.
And as for piracy, its time the film makers learn to live with it. Instead of wasting energy in fighting piracy, film makers should focus on increasing the content of the movie.
@azad: while i agree with u on all fronts, i just have one point, that movies should be telecast on dth after a few weeks of release in multiplex/theatre. reason being that, revenues from a person sitting in the comfort of his home and paying Rs.50/- per view for an entire family cannot be compared to that of a cine-goer who will be spending about Rs.200/- per ticket. its just not fair to the multiplex and theatre owners.
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as said earlier, dth is the way to go. but the gap between theatrical release and dth release should be more than 2 weeks at least. that will also help in reducing the piracy. DTHrips will take time to come out, if at all.
From Business standard…
But the business could grow in the days to come — it is estimated there will be 20 million DTH homes by March 2010.“Even if 5 per cent of them order movies at Rs 100 per movie, it is a Rs 10-crore revenue stream that no producer would want to let go,” said Dish TV COO Salil Kapoor.
Piracy can’t be stopped..Producers realize that..They want to milk as much money as possible before people forget about a movie since there are so many other entertainment options available..Cinema is no longer the primary source of entertainment like few years back…
People who download from internet will continue to do so irrespective of the print quality. I remember a leading Architect took money for specifying a brand and I was quite flabbergasted. I mean, he had name, fame and loads and loads of money, yet he took money from a supplier for specifying his brand. Then I understood that it has become a habit.
Similarly people recording DTH premieres and uploading and people downloading from the internet do it only due to habit. When you board Shatabdi at Chennai, you get all the latest release DVDs. Rs. 20 each/-. Many Executives traveling with laptops buy them and watch them during the journey.
So why blame DTH? They are only trying to recover as much money as possible. Sometimes the decision is right (like Whats your Rashee which made a good amount of money in DTH) and sometimes it is wrong. This is purely a business decision. As long as it is legal, why should we question it? Why blame them for piracy? Piracy will continue as long as there is demand. You can control it a bit with strict measures but it is unavoidable.
I have an issue with the title of the post which says DTH is a “form” of piracy. What you are arguing is that DTH allows people to download and hence do piracy after that.
Is iTunes also a form of piracy ?
DTH is not a form of piracy. I pay for the movie that i am watching. Not everyone who is watching on DTH is doing the download , record and propagate business. On the other hand , everytime i buy a pirated disc , i am feeding the cycle of piracy. On DTH , I am legitimately buying the movie to watch for a limited period.
And if it was not for Tatasky , i would have missed movies like Baraah Aana , Hulla which did not last in the theatres.
Also being a compulsive movie addict , there are times i have walked into a theatre knowing that i should not be watching the film. Now for movies like MAMK , WYR , i atleast get to see them at 100 bucks as against 300 bucks for 2 tickets plus parking.
Absolutely the way ahead …