TVNZ moves to ad model for digital content

TVNZ has announced they are going to both ditch copy protection software on their digital downloads, and also abolish the pay per download fee for premium content.  Instead they are focusing on an ad-supported model.

This isn’t a huge surprise.  Around a year ago Jason Parris, TVNZ’s head of emerging business, spoke to a meeting of the Parliamentary Internet Caucus and he said that he doubted pay per download model was one which would be sustainable, and that an ad supported model was the future.

I thought the statement at the time showed that TVNZ did understand the market and the technology well, and were realistic about it. So this is just part of an evolution of their strategy – not a major change.