As if we needed anymore reasons to hate Foxtel, Australians now have yet another reason to add the list.
If you are like me and you are a fan of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, you would have realised up until recently you could watch the show on Youtube without any issue for free. Not anymore thanks in part to The Comedy Channel (solely owned by Foxtel) purchasing the rights to show the series here in Australia. Maybe not a decision that affects you if you are fortunate enough to have pockets deep enough to pay for Foxtel.
Ironically in my search for news about the purchase or some kind of statement I found this Gizmodo article.
My favourite take away from the article is:
Within four hours, everyone on the planet with an internet connection has access to 20 minutes of top-shelf satire. No BitTorrent client required. By watching it on YouTube, you’re giving HBO all the hits it wants, and still accessing it legally.
Followed by:
It’s interesting, really, to watch how HBO distributes Last Week Tonight when compared to other shows it distributes like Game Of Thrones. Anyone who wanted to keep abreast of events unfolding in Westeros was forced to subscribe to one of Foxtel’s less than ideal streaming packages just to get access to the show.
How ironic, another HBO show that we have to pay Foxtel an exorbitant amount of money per month and lock-in fixed-term contract to watch legally. It looks like us Australians are backed into a corner once more and forced to use VPN’s, the Hola extension for Chrome or torrent the show. Who really wins in the end here?
Thanks again Foxtel for making me hate you even more.
