Study: Piracy’s positive effect on viewership
May 3, 2022
By Colin Mann
A study by three Korean academics suggests that although the direct effect of media consumption through BitTorrent to TV viewership is negative, the indirect effect that mediates Internet buzz is positive, which dilutes the negative effect of digital piracy.
In a paper for Information & Management, Dongyeon Kim, assistant professor at the Department of Business Administration, Catholic University of Korea, Kyuhong Park, assistant professor at the Department of Business Administration, Inha University, and Youngsok Bang, assistant professor at the School of Business, Yonsei University, note that notwithstanding the biggest victim of digital piracy, there is a limited understanding of how TV drama piracy affects its legal consumption. “Unlike movies or music, TV dramas are typically a series of episodes, where pirated past episodes may not necessarily carry a negative impact on the legal consumption of current episodes,” they say.
“The consumption boosted by piracy can promote Internet buzz, which may draw the attention of potential consumers and may result in broader legal consumption afterward,” they suggest.
Based on an empirical analysis regarding the relationships among the viewership of 20 TV dramas broadcast in the US, social media activities on Twitter, Google and YouTube search trends, and the number of BitTorrent users who pirated these TV dramas, the study shows that although the direct effect of media consumption through BitTorrent to TV viewership is negative, the indirect effect that mediates Internet buzz is positive, which dilutes the negative effect of digital piracy.
“Such positive effects of digital piracy are more substantial for the second half of dramas, less popular dramas, and serial dramas,” they advise.