Future Knight Rider projects and Spoilers

[neps]

hey,

with the NBC project nearly released - several international members asked if we could talk about policy going forward on discussion of the Knight Rider projects.

Specifically, when Feb 17th runs around, we don't want to 'spoil' the surprise of the movie for them, they should be able to see it at their own pace at their own time.

So, we ask - any discussions about the NBC project at that point should exist only in the NBC New Knight Rider forum. Similar for when the Larson project gets closer - to only use the feature film forum

You do it by using the "spoiler" tag that is linked above. you can also add an optional title after the equal sign in the tag.

PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER_SHOW PRIME_BBCODE_SPOILER: about KITT

this is not the knight two thousand in the NBC pilot

Cool?

[PHOENIXZERO]

Cool.

[Matthew]

I think that covers us non-American's perfectly Neil.

Matt

[sarfraz]

Thanks Neil, much appreciated. Have no clue yet when the likes of Europe will see this pilot. I guess it will be more of a certainty if the pilot is picked up for a series.

Sarfraz

[pheonix_knight]

appreciating what you are trying to say for us non US dwelling fans but...

realistically (if not entirely legally and i appreciate that the board here would and should not want to get involved in this reply though...) why toe the 'policy line' when, for the good of the franchise, we should all share the same experience ASAP. Think about it, it has more chance of being a success if it has international interest in being a series if we all see it around the same time, rather than make it for US and then fail, not that i want it to, half a season thru and THEN look at international markets to make as much money from the dying product...

i dont want another TKR but i did watch that show when it was shown on Granada here in UK. I heard about the show bout 18months prior to its UK airing because of THIS board but it had already been cancelled which is kinda my point...

[Stargazer]

This is a very nice and needed additon to the board!

[knightendo_phil]

Brilliant Neil, thank you.

In response to pheonix_knight, not all of us want to break the law, and a lot of fans would prefer to give back to the show a rating after all the work put in to it, rather than download it illegally. Piracy is a crime, simple as. And I for one will not illegally download new knight rider when the makers have gone to so much trouble. To try to garner interest in getting fans to do that is not on. Proper fans will watch it legally, as the producers would want.

TKR was in trouble from the word "go" (near enough) and was sold to ITV a long time before it was shown. Because its ratings weren't that great in the US ITV chose not to rush ahead. They DID show it in the old 80's KR slot of saturday tea-times (lucrative again after baywatch too) before it was axed in the states, but it's ratings in the UK were SO poor it was pulled from the schedules after four episodes. Between then and the next run on saturday early afternoons it was cancelled in the states. I'd day they'll wait to see overnight responses before selling it, but i'm sure UK (and other territories) channels already have either an eye on it or maybe have started bidding already, who knows?

I just hope ITV DON'T get it!! They'll show it Saturday tea-time and cut bits out. PLEASE let it be Sky One!! Or Five IF they show it at 9pm!

[PHOENIXZERO]

Well, really it doesn't matter if you were to watch on TV or not unless you have a box that registers what programs you were watching for ratings purposes, like the Neilsen boxes that are given out to certain people for an amount of time. But still, I don't see why someone couldn't/wouldn't just watch it a second time on TV if that was the case, it would almost be the same as someone recording it but pausing at the commercials to cut them out and then lending the tape to someone else who didn't see it. IMO, it's a bit different than theatrical film releases. But still I understand if someone chooses not to.

[knightendo_phil]

i can see your point pheonixzero (and thank you for the PM by the way, nice thought, thanks again ) but at the end of the day it is illegal to download it or any tv show or movie. each to their own but i didn't appreciate pheonix_knight assuming it's ok to do so and that most of us would do it.

[PHOENIXZERO]

Well, if NBC.com puts it on their site and you have a good internet connection, you still might be able to watch it that way through a US proxy, though that'll likely slow things down.

[knightendo_phil]

Yeah maybe they'll do something like the BBC and Sky do here and let you download programmes from the last seven days. I've checked their site and there's a good list of recent programmes available so hopefully they'll do it for KR too

[David]

Speaking for myself, I will be downloading the new pilot the minute it hits the torrent sites. There's no way I could possibly hold out for 6 months or whatever the delay in it hitting the UK on ITV will be.

I doubt NBC/Universal will care too much about folks like me and the other non-US forumites who just want to SEE the thing since it's not harming them financially. What they WILL have major issues with is people downloading the pilot/series and then burning DVDs which end up on eBay. And rightly so.

[knightendo_phil]

That's a very... um... unique way of looking at things. It will hurt them financially if you decide not to watch it when it hits whatever station over here if you didn't like it when you illegally downloaded it, or if you decide not to buy the DVD because you already have it on your computer or burnt to a DVD of your own.

At the end of the day, you're illegally downloading their copyrighted material, you're condoning piracy and ofcourse that matters even if they DON'T make a financial loss!! There's no excuse for piracy, simple as.

[sarfraz]

Hmmmm, I was thinking about Heroes which finished airing season 1 at the end of last year on BBC2 (UK terrestrial channel). It had aired a long time ago in the states and I've heard it was heavily downloaded (ilegally) here in the UK. It also aired on sci-fi channel (limited viewing on cable) a while before BBC's airing. However, none of the former greatly affected the mainstream viewing figures for the BBC. Why else did BBC buy season 2 so fast.

Phil though, your argument stands. Priracy is what it is, even if the financial hit to the company is insignificant.

Part of me is hoping someone like Sky One gets there gears in motion and buys the rights for the UK pronto. Then we can watch it in full HD. Beats a pixalated vid through streaming anyday! I wonder what the chances of BBC buying NBC KR is like as they also have HD????

Sarfraz

[David]

It will hurt them financially if you decide not to watch it when it hits whatever station over here if you didn't like it when you illegally downloaded it.

Indeed, but that will serve them right for managing to screw up a great concept with a readymade fanbase (hopefully not though, fingers crossed!) Frankly, I value my time more than I care about the bottom line of a television company who dropped the ball on a surefire hit.

I see being able to watch the new pilot when it airs as my reward for 24 years of Knight Rider fandom. Without folks like me and the many other non-US forum users around the world who have helped sustain interest in what to most people is little more than a long defunct relic of kitsch (KITTsch?) 1980's action adventure television, there probably wouldn't even be a Knight Rider 2008 revival in the first place.

Besides, if I understand correctly, ITV have already ponied up to buy the new pilot. NBC Universal already have their money from that deal, it's ITV who should be worried that they've bought a turkey. I bet they're praying its good even more than we are!

Piracy is obviously illegal and unscrupulous bootleggers annoy me as much as the next law abiding citizen, but I'm afraid I simply don't regard my plans to watch Knight Rider 2008 asap as piracy - and I bet I'm not alone in that view.

[Skav]

I WILL be seeing the Pilot on the day it airs in the US but it won't be through downloading, by other means. Let's leave it at that. Sure, piracy is piracy but I'm willing to bet that fans will still watch it when it airs internationally in their country.

I'm a fan and even I watch the HORRIBLE KR2010 and KR2000 when it airs here on C5.

The ONLY reason fans will download it or however they choose to view it online is because they are excited to watch it and can't hack waiting months for it to air internationally.

Whether that's right or wrong is down to everyone's prerogative.

People will do whatever they choose to do at the end of the day.

[seeker78]

i can see your point pheonixzero (and thank you for the PM by the way, nice thought, thanks again ) but at the end of the day it is illegal to download it or any tv show or movie. each to their own but i didn't appreciate pheonix_knight assuming it's ok to do so and that most of us would do it.

I'm with you, Phil. I worked in a movie theater at one point, I was a projectionist, and you could see a dramatic difference in revenue outside of summer and christmas when people were going to the movies. They also cut people's hours back DRAMATICALLY. So a 40 hour a week job became a 8 hour a week job. All because of decreased ticket sales. That's when I ended up leaving, but that job was a waste of my time anyway at $8/hr in my 20s...oh btw for your local movie theater to buy one 20 minute reel of a movie costs US$6,000. So if you have 10 reels (2 hour movie) that's $60,000 that the local theater has to pay. It gets worse if nobody is buying tickets because they are stealing the movie. Same principle for TV.

My point is, when people don't watch these things legally, that prevents revenue from going back to those who created the intellectual property, and then there's no reason for them to continue creating it. You're not just hurting the production company itself, but also all the people who work for small hourly wages on the production end etc. (see above)

It would be better for TV shows to be released worldwide at the same time, but production companies chose not to do that, so people just need to wait. If they don't, then the companies will see ratings falling, and they probably won't see that show return to their country.

[MJknight]

True, piracy ain't right or legit.

So, where does that leave YouTube, daily motion and veoh.com?

As soon as I find Knight Rider Second Generation on there, I will be watching it on the net.

[DrWho2005]

Brilliant Neil, thank you.

In response to pheonix_knight, not all of us want to break the law, and a lot of fans would prefer to give back to the show a rating after all the work put in to it, rather than download it illegally. Piracy is a crime, simple as. And I for one will not illegally download new knight rider when the makers have gone to so much trouble. To try to garner interest in getting fans to do that is not on. Proper fans will watch it legally, as the producers would want.

!

What a load of codswallop ( your statement that is, not casting aspersions on you as a person yet...)

Give back to the show?
If i sit here and watch the show when it is briadcast by my station then I am giving NOTHING back to the show or advertisers.

I don't have a ratings box, so it is irrelevant wether or not i watch. Only the people with people metres matter when it comes to ratings.
BUt word of mouth DOES matter. If i download the show and watch it and then pass it on to 5 friends then it is likely that 2 of them will buy the dvd. NBC then makes money and Knight Rider has gained more viewers and more revenue.
If i simply wait a year or so to watch it on tv then NBC gains NOTHING.

As for your spiel about piracy....if i download LOST..what has ABC in the USA lost? Nothing. I download the episodes then buy the dvds. What has ABC gained? Revenue.

And please dont try and be pious about piracy.
Have you ever gone over the speed limit? forogtten to wear a seat belt? Smoked? Eaten chicken? Had booze? Done drugs? Used a photocopier? Look up info on google instead of buying a text book? Used shareware past the used by date? Downloaded a tv show, movie, app? etc etc.
I didnt realise that they watched Knight Rider in the Vatican.

Oh, and download a tv show isn't illegal.

I appreciate that this site cannot support such practices...if i ran a fan site then i too would take the same line as the owners do. But other users shouldnt try and put out false information and try to make people feel bad for downloading.

To all the people who will download the show...if you like the movie, then tell people.
Create a buzz, buy the dvd and other materials. Make the show a success or make it a failure.
Of course, if you have a ratings box and you live in the USA..then watch it on tv.

[DrWho2005]

It would be better for TV shows to be released worldwide at the same time, but production companies chose not to do that, so people just need to wait. If they don't, then the companies will see ratings falling, and they probably won't see that show return to their country.

But people will not wait.

Especially months or years.

Before i used to download a show i would wait months for a show to come from America to here.
If i heard a show was already cancelled then i wouldnt bother.
Bye bye potential revenue..
Oh wait, i never had a ratings box so it never mattered.
Never mind.

Still funny to think that some people think they affect ratings by turning on their tv

[DrWho2005]

True, piracy ain't right or legit.

So, where does that leave YouTube, daily motion and veoh.com?

As soon as I find Knight Rider Second Generation on there, I will be watching it on the net.

That makes no sense.

You wont download a show but you will watch it on youtube??????????

[David]

True. To be honest, if we're going "hard line" against links to torrents, then the same iron justice should really be applied to any YouTube etc clip that's been posted without copyright consent.

Where do you draw the line?

[neps]

Hey guys - you know what? Whether you find it right or wrong, whether you make them loose money or not - it is illegal, and companies do take action against it in the form of suing.

I'm going to shut this thread down in a minute - because it's really gotten off topic.

[DrWho2005]

Hey guys - you know what? Whether you find it right or wrong, whether you make them loose money or not - it is illegal, and companies do take action against it in the form of suing.

I'm going to shut this thread down in a minute - because it's really gotten off topic.

It isnt illegal in Australia and no Australian has ever been sued for it.

[knightendo_phil]

It's illegal everywhere. I love for you to show us some proof that it is legal to steal the intellectual property of other people in Australia. it is copyrighted material, and to download it is stealing, so anyone who downloads it is a thief.