[citation][nom]robochump[/nom]HBO offers shows for its subscribers and people want it for free. What to do, what to do? A few things that HBO can do is offer its show at a reasonable price. I wanted to buy the complete ROME 2 season show on DVD and was over $50! Another thing is to put the shows after a year on Netflix, HULU, etc. HBO will still make some $$$ and allow non-subs access to the show that would otherwise be potentially pirated. Just 2 cent$...[/citation]
2 Seasons for 50 dollars, so roughly 18 hours worth of programming for 50 dollars? That doesn't sound too bad really, especially including the extras and packaging that would likely come with the DVD box set. Also putting it onto services after a year would do nothing, people would have pirated it by then.
Now, HBO and other premium channels, being premium channels, do have higher budgets for their original programming. Higher budgets mean their content is considered "more valuable" and come at a higher price. That's the facts of life. I would certainly watch it if it were on Hulu or Netflix, but it's completely unreasonable to expect something that costs more to make to come at the same price. Either they have to lower the budgets or charge more for that type of content. I imagine they also charge Netflix or other movie services a bucketload for the streaming rights.
Don't get me wrong though, premium channels are the cancer of cable TV. Old movies all day long just for a chance to see the one you want and maybe one or two of their original shows are actually great. Their business model was completely torn to shreds by Netflix. I don't have to tune in at a certain time to see the movie I want anymore, I can TiVo it or watch old and B movies on Netflix. They more than anyone else need to change their business strategy and adapt to streams somehow, because the old pay TV business model is useless in today's economy.