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 In an unprecedented move to curb piracy, French television broadcaster TF1 has announced yesterday that it will make episodes of the second series of Heroes available on its video-on-demand (VOD) service 24 hours after their broadcast in the US. The deal between TF1 and NBC, (the US network which produces and distributes the series), ensures that the VOD service, TF1 vision, will offer the new episodes for download and streaming starting on September 25. The episodes will be subtitled in French and cost as little as €1.99 ($2.70) each (dependent on the pay package chosen).
[UPADTE October 5: The first episode of the second season or Heroes was viewed more than 50,000 times in France through TF1 Vision's VOD service ( see story in French-law.net)]
TF1 has presented this agreement as the first of its kind in the world. Until now, episodes of Heroes were accessible through TF1 vision only after their airing on the French channel. The series, launched in France this summer, has been a huge rating success. However, many eager fans had already downloaded on the internet illegal copies of the show which had been aired in the US several months earlier. TF1 declared that its new offer was “an undeniable alternative to illegal file-sharing.” Indeed, TF1 may have made a giant leap in the future of content distribution by actually offering its viewers what they want: having immediate access to the lastest US hits.
Has ‘Heroes’ actor used his powers to see the future?
Amusingly, Masi Oka, the actor whose character Hiro is able to travel through time seemed to have had a prescient vision yesterday when he was questioned on the thorny issue of video downloads. The International Herald Tribune reports that when asked what he thought of the Bittorent file-sharing software “Oka said he enjoyed the fan reaction in France, where he noticed locals had already seen the show even before it had aired on TV.” As TorrentFreak cheekily commented, “in order to do this the fans didn’t manipulate the space-time continuum like Hiro does in the show, they simply [downloaded it from the internet].”
The actor was adamant he didn’t condone BitTorrent and balanced his comments by saying that "it takes a lot of money to create a really high quality show. We have a lot of support from the advertisers ... all the buyers. We just feel like we're doing a disservice to them if we do BitTorrent," the actor said, but added, "if we get a lot of people to watch the show, it's only going to be great for the show in the future too."
Only hours later, TF1 announced the deal which will allow French fans to legally enjoy their favorite show almost at the same time as their US counterparts. *Published on Thursday 30 August 2007 @ 11h15 GMT; last modified at 15h45 GMT Sources
- TF1 compte sur Heroes (saison 2) pour promouvoir son service de VOD. ZDNet France , 29 août 2007.
- Guillaume Deleurence, La saison 2 de « Heroes » en VOD 24 heures après les Etats-Unis. 01net. , le 29 août 2007.
- Guillaume Champeau, Heroes VOST sur TF1 Vision 24 heures après la diffusion aux USA ! Ratiatum.com , 29 août 2007.
- Alexandre Laurent, VOD : Heroes en VOST 24h après diffusion américaine. Neteco.com , 29 Août 2007.
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