Piracy didn’t fade, it just got cleverer

This time last year the industry was in a spin. In close succession, hackers had breached Netflix, Disney and HBO, threatening to release script details or entire shows to the web unless ransoms were paid. Even then, Game of Thrones season seven was pirated more than a billion times, according to one estimate.

Euphemistically known as content redistribution, piracy was rife in sports broadcasting too. The industry’s worst fears were confirmed shortly before IBC when ‘The Money Fight’ between boxers Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor haemorrhaged cash for operator Showtime as three million people watched illegally.

In recent months, though, no such high-profile incident has occurred – or at least been made public. The industry would appear to have stemmed the tide.

Massive investment pays dividends
This is at least in part due to the firepower being thrown at the problem. Ovum estimates that the spend on TV and video anti-piracy services will touch…