Why Don't Philippine TV Networks Offer Torrents of Their Programs?

It seems like a real no-brainer to me. TV networks in the Philippines should take the lead worldwide and offer high-quality/hi-definition copies of their locally-produced programs for download via BitTorrent.

I see no downside. There is a sufficient demand for local programs here and especially for OFWs abroad to ensure constant seeding. The novelty of network TV programs being offered for legal downloading via torrent would also entice foreigners to check out those local TV shows, especially if subtitles are included (do not underestimate the capacity of foreigners to sit through our telenovelas just to ogle our babes).

To take advantage of this expanded market, the networks can offer special rates for advertisers who are interested in having their ads bundled within the uploaded programs. If these ads are seamlessly integrated into the uploaded program, there would be little incentive of end-users to edit them out if they wish to redistribute them on the internet.

Unlike in the U.S., our local programming is not offered on other international networks, hence offering these via torrents won't interfere with any exclusive right to rebroadcast ceded to those other networks. I also don't think DVD sales of local TV programs are large enough that the decline in such sales caused by these torrents would put a crimp in the network's financial bottom line, assuming that such losses are not offset by the income earned from the special advertising contracts. Moreover, the DVD market can still be maintained by offering exclusive special features that would entice the true-blue fanatics and completionists.

And think of the massive goodwill that either ABS-CBN, GMA, or TV5 would earn around the world if any of them becomes the first or among the first networks to offer its programming via torrent. This could be a game-changer for the internatioanl broadcasting industry. Due to a combination of human nature and the idiosyncracies of the BitTorrent framework, the use of this technology to disseminate mass media regardless of copyright restrictions is here to stay and to be improved upon. It will be inevitable that the networks will have to embrace this new paradigm. TV networks in the Philippines are in a peculiar position to exploit this technology and actually earn more profits than if they maintained the status quo.