To: ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, and all other interested television networks

From: Bryan Donovan

Re: Amazing Business Opportunity

Dear Television Channel Executives,

I am writing to offer my free advice on how you can please more customers and make more money than you are right now. I don't currently subscribe to any television; I don't have an antenna on my TV and I don't have any form of cable or satellite programming. This is due to my complete dissatisfaction with the majority of television programming. The small list of programs I enjoy does not warrant spending money on a monthly service, and given that I cannot get good antenna reception in my condominium, I'm left with the (good) option of renting last season's programs on DVD. However, it would be nice to watch shows from the current season without having to subscribe to a television service.

The solution? Allow customers to download television programs on the Internet for a small fee, and with the important feature of being able to download one episode at a time and pay only for that episode. If I am required to subscribe to a package of programs or buy a certain number of episodes in order to use the service, I might as well get cable. Major League Baseball allows for the downloading of individual baseball games and the service seems to work quite well. If I could download the season opener of Fox's 24, for example, and not have to deal with any other programs or channels, I would be in TV heaven. I've heard rumors of such a service coming about, but nothing has emerged that I know of yet.

I imagine the revenue per program would be rather high, as you could easily charge $1-$2 per episode for most shows, which must be much higher than the revenue per episode you receive from cable providers. Although I cannot stand watching advertisements, I would be willing to put up with them if this service was offered, so you would continue to reap the advertising money as well.

People are downloading TV shows illegally on the Internet now, so you might as well offer a viable alternative, much like iTunes has done with online music. If you can't beat them, join them and make money doing so.

If you need computer infrastructure and software, I know of a great company who specializes in that sort of thing.

Sincerely,

Bryan Donovan

(2005-01-12 16:57:55.0/2005-01-12 16:37:11.0) Permalink Comments [2]
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