Hollywood TV and movie executives will be keeping their guard up after Saturday’s massive pirating of the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao pay-per-view boxing match by people across the web, including Twitter users.
They used the site’s live-streaming app Periscope and Meerkat to send out the “fight of the century” to non-paying customers around the globe.
Millions of people paid $100 to see the fight on TV — which was co-produced by HBO and Showtime and was expected to easily smash the pay-per-view record of 2.48 million buys set in 2007 when Mayweather fought Oscar De La Hoya.
Just before the title fight got underway at 9 p.m. in Las Vegas, the number of people watching on Time Warner Cable, Charter and DirecTV became so great that the massive volume contributed to outages that forced a delay of several minutes.
That gave fans a reason to take to Twitter, and that’s when the Periscope transmission took off. That scenario – with outages prompting spikes in streaming on Twitter and Meerkat – occurred several times through the fight.
The bigger problem for Hollywood will come if the live-streaming apps broaden the spread of global piracy. The Motion Picture Association of America, the studios’ umbrella group, estimates piracy costs the U.S. film industry around $6 billion annually. That’s a lot by any standard, but especially when you consider that’s more than half of the 2014 domestic box office.
“It hasn’t been an issue for movie theaters yet,” Patrick Corcoran, head of the National Association of Theater Owners, told TheWrap Sunday about the streaming apps. He pointed out that theaters and the MPAA are already vigilant when it comes to recording devices. Since last fall for example, if patrons arrive with Google Glasses, they’re sent away. “The same would be true of devices that live-stream.”
HBO had problems with live-streams of its hit series “Game of Thrones” last year, and pointed a finger at Twitter, so lawsuits will surely come if the illegal transmissions accelerate.
“We feel developers should have tools which proactively prevent mass copyright infringement from occurring on their apps and not be solely reliant upon notifications,” the cable network said in a statement.
It a tricky issue with potential to divide the industry. Copyright protection is a dollars-and-cents issue for major media companies, and some studios have used Periscope to get the word out on new movies to savvy tech types, as Lionsgate did with “Age of Adaline.” But stars like Ellen Degeneres, Seth Myers and Jimmy Fallon, have been early adopters.
Twitter did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
What limits the damage, at least to a degree, are the limits of the app itself. Periscope and Meerkat allow users to shoot footage from their smartphones and tablets and share it on social media. Periscope’s streams stay visible for 24 hours, but Meerkat’s disappear when the recording ends.
9 Overnight Internet Sensations: From 'Alex From Target' to 'Hot Mug Shot Guy' (Photos)
Alex Lee, a 16-year-old bag boy at a Dallas Target store, became known simply as "Alex From Target" after a customer snapped his picture and posted it on Twitter. Lee became an overnight Internet sensation and landed a one-on-one with Ellen DeGeneres.
Alex Minsky went viral after his modeling shots hit the web. An Afghanistan vet, Minksy lost a leg after his Humvee ran over a roadside bomb. Instead of hiding his prosthesis, Minsky flaunted it on camera. His pictures became so popular, the California native was invited to New York to sit down with the ladies of "The View."
Chris Crocker, the boy in front of bedsheets tearfully begging people to “Leave Britney (Spears) alone!" got his big break after his video garnered an astounding 4 million views in two days. The YouTube clip inspired dozens of parodies by big-name celebs. He signed a show deal with Logo TV and has since proudly made a transition into gay porn.
Antoine Dodson was interviewed by a local TV crew after an intruder attempted to rape his sister. The interview became an Internet sensation and even got its own auto-tuned song by The Gregory Brothers which sold thousands of copies on iTunes.
Jeremy Meeks became "The Hot Mug Shot Guy" after he was arrested on gun and gang-related charges and his mugshot was posted on the Stockton, California police department's website. Women swooned, and Meeks made the news and reportedly signed a modeling contract worth $30,000.
Sean Kory hit it big after his own mug shot hit the web. Kory was arrested in Santa Cruz, California in November for allegedly assaulting a man dressed up as a Fox News reporter at a Halloween parade.
Chris Kohrs, also known as "The Hot Cop of San Francisco," became a global obsession earlier this year after a stranger on the street snapped his photo. A Facebook page started by one of his fans garnered an eye-popping 50,000 followers in less than a week.
EJ Johnson, son of Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson, went viral after paparazzi caught him coming out of a West Hollywood restaurant clutching a Birkin bag while holding hands with a male friend. Johnson landed a lead role in E!'s "Rich Kids of Beverly Hills."
Tardar Sauce, better known as "Grumpy Cat," became a Tumblr sensation, soon landing the feline its own movie.
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Teen Alex Lee became a star after an off-the-cuff photo became a social media phenomenon. Here’s TheWrap’s list of people who rode the wave of viral popularity.
Alex Lee, a 16-year-old bag boy at a Dallas Target store, became known simply as "Alex From Target" after a customer snapped his picture and posted it on Twitter. Lee became an overnight Internet sensation and landed a one-on-one with Ellen DeGeneres.
