Why BBC America?

Today, I was watching Doctor Who on BBC America (channel 264 on Direct TV) when I noticed scenes missing and commercial breaks inserted at improper times. The episode was missing key scenes that changed major plot points that have a rippling effect throughout the entire series! What the hell BBC? This has happend with other shows before. Top gear was also cut differently with odd commercial breaks. This is absurd behavior. I’m not sure why they do this. Is it to allow for more commercials thus making more money for the broadcaster? Whatever the reason is, it’s hard for me to have much sympathy for studios when they complain about people pirating their content. 

The options for people in America are to either watch a version that was cut differently from the way the creators originally intended or to purchase shows through a service like iTunes months after it aired, with limitations on where it ca be viewed. Pirating, on the other hand, allows someone to see episodes days after they are aired in Europe, in quality that rivals iTunes, cut the way the creators originally intended, and the ability to be played on any medium the consumer chooses.

Make no mistake, If it is a show that I truly enjoy, I will always choose to pay for the product. I love Doctor Who: The Complete Fifth Series on Bluray. Even though the video is in 1080i, it still looks amazing. It is also hard to beat hearing the Doctor Who theme in DTS HD 5.1 surround sound. The content providers need to understand that their efforts for digital content distribution will always have problems. Their copy protection will always be easy circumvented and will only hold back sales. In the end, the customer is the one that becomes the victim in this whole mess. 

Photo courtesy SyFy.com