Counting the cost of pay TV

Okay, quick show of hands: who didn't wait to see the second season double-episode premiere of Game of Thrones on SoHo tonight because of the cost involved, and decided to just download it over the past couple of weeks instead?

One of the most puzzling arguments in defence of downloading is that it isn't fair to make viewers pay to watch the best quality shows. You see it in the comments here occasionally: readers who feel that quality TV, preferably airing a few short hours behind the USA, at no cost whatsoever, is some kind of god* given right.

Heck, a few even claim that shows like Game of Thrones should be available here immediately after they air overseas, through some kind of OnDemand website - again, at no cost.

But why should we expect quality TV at no cost?

The answer is that we shouldn't - and to understand why that expectation is unreasonable, we need to understand that we would actually be paying much more if we lived in the USA.

Sky TV is far from perfect. As Colin Peacock proved yesterday on Radio NZ's Mediawatch, some of their practices are monopolistic and have the effect of stopping any potential competitors in their tracks; for example, online TV service QuickFlix is having trouble clearing content and setting up unmetered usage deals with some ISPs, due to existing deals those ISPs have already made with Sky TV, as Chris Barton wrote about last week. Not cool, Sky. Not cool.

One thing Sky TV has got right, however, is their premium content channel SoHo.

The cost of getting SoHo at your place is well documented: potential customers need to subscribe to Sky TV's Basic package (at a base cost of around $45 a month) then subscribe to SoHo channel ($10 a month), for a total cost of $55 a month. Viewing the channel on a high-definition DVR requires a MySky HDi unit, at an additional cost of $15 a month. If you're keeping score, we're now up to $70 monthly.

Now, compare those prices to ComCast, the largest cable provider in the United States, with more than 22 million customers. The cheapest base price for ComCast is their Digital Starter package, at a monthly cost of $36.45 - high-definition DVR is an additional $19.40 a month. We're already up to $55.85 every month, and we haven't even added content. (Note: I've converted all the prices to Kiwi dollars already.)**

Content is where the big difference is: Sky TV's SoHo channel provides shows from a number of different subscription-only channels - Showtime (Dexter, Weeds), Starz (upcoming series Magic City, Boss), Cinemax (Strike Back), and major affiliate HBO (Boardwalk Empire, Luck, Game of Thrones, True Blood, The Wire, and many more), as well as AMC (Hell on Wheels, Mad Men, The Killing) and British sources.

In the USA, each of these channels is an extra cost: Showtime, Starz, Cinemax and HBO all cost an additional $12.15 per month - bumping the cost of seeing all these shows up to around $104.45 a month. So, using the basic package, the cost is $104.45 in the USA versus $70 in NZ.

Fortunately, ComCast have a solution: their Digital Premier package, which includes every channel available (and is the only way to see shows from AMC and the UK in America). ComCast's Digital Premier package, combined with a high-definition DVR, will set you back around $128.65 every month.

That's either $104.45 or $128.65 a month in America, versus $70 a month in NZ - and before you can say "Hulu", it's worth pointing out that none of these channels make their shows available online unless you're a paid subscriber.

Look, I'm not trying to sell you on Sky TV or do some kind of weird endorsement. I rue the cost of pay TV just as much as you (hey, free TV would be great), and I strongly disagree with some of Sky TV's business practices. I share the cost of the Sky subscription in my flat and I pay for my own SoHo subscription. In fact, I don't get anything free to assist with this blog, except for the odd preview of a new show, and that was a conscious decision I made at the outset.

But I do get frustrated by this absurd notion that we're somehow being ripped off by pay TV in this country when, in fact, we're paying considerably less than our American counterparts. Sure, the problem of programming delays is a biggie, but it's a separate argument entirely. In terms of cost, we're actually getting a pretty sweet deal.

But hey, that's just my opinion.

What do you make of pay TV costs - specifically, Sky TV - in this country? Do you feel like you're getting ripped off? Has reading this post changed your mind? I'm interested in what you think, so share your thoughts ...

(*) "God" being Philo T Farnsworth in this example.

(**) ComCast's pricing is here.

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