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1.  

   

   pwb, Jan 19th, 2009 @ 11:52pm

   
   

   When the marginal cost of your service is zero, it *MUST* have a free component!

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2.  

   But virtual goods should also be free right?

   

   Michael Foord, Jan 20th, 2009 @ 2:30am

   
   

   But wouldn't you also argue that as the marginal cost of the virtual goods is zero they should also be giving those away? ;-)

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3.  

   But it isn't free

   

   Fentex, Jan 20th, 2009 @ 4:02am

   
   

   I don't live in the U.S so I may be mistaken here but is not American Idol shown either on advertising supported broadcast or a cable network? Neither of which are free - one you pay for by the portions consisting of ads and the other by payment of a cable bill.
   
   Actual free would be something like the show being tossed out to the world as unprotected torrents. But torrents of the TV show remain copyright breaches, do they not?

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4.  

   

   Jack Sombra, Jan 20th, 2009 @ 4:58am

   
   

   "Now add American Idol to this list. Building on its free content -- the TV show "
   As Fentex said, the show is not free, networks/TV stations pay for it, they recoop the costs from advertisers who pay to market their own goods, while viewers pay by having to suffer though Ad's, that generally these days take up about 20% of their viewing time

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5.  

   Re: But it isn't free

   

   Dave, Jan 20th, 2009 @ 5:50am

   
   

   It makes money that way and through the voting process which is a pay per call service. They make on average $7,000,000 per show on people calling in to vote.

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6.  

   Re: But it isn't free

   

   Monarch, Jan 20th, 2009 @ 6:02am

   
   

   It's still free to anyone just watching the show. Yeah, you have to sit through watching commercials if you watch it live, but there is nothing that forces you to purchase the products being advertised. So it is essentially free to watch.

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7.  

   Re:

   

   Monarch, Jan 20th, 2009 @ 6:11am

   
   

   If you are not paying anything to watch the show, it's free. Commercials are content too, so you're getting them for free also. So you are watching the episode for free.
   
   It doesn't matter who is paying for the show, as nothing manufactured in life is completely free to everyone. Someone always needs to pay to have a product manufactured. The issue is, is the targeted consumer having to pay also, or is that targeted consumer getting it for free?
   
   Plus, as an earlier post was referring. Not only does American Idol give away the main product for free to the targeted consumer, but they have a built in Micro-Payment system. The targeted consumer can actively participate in the show for a minimal micro-payment of a text message vote. So the producers of American Idol know how to get a portion of the targeted consumer to pay for part of the show via voluntary micro-payment also.
   
   Now, on top of that, they are getting others in their targeted consumers to pay for other amenities of the show. These guys have some intelligent marketing people.

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8.  

   Re: But it isn't free

   

   hegemon13, Jan 20th, 2009 @ 7:08am

   
   

   You're right, in a sense. The show does make money off of advertising. However, the show itself is free to the viewer. The advertising space is a complimentary good that they can sell by broadcasting the show to the viewers for free. This is a perfect example of what Techdirt means when they say they're sick of hearing that "free is not a business model." No, free is PART of a business model, just like this one. Having free as part of the model does not mean you can't make money. If you do it right, you should make MORE money, as we can clearly see with American Idol.

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9.  

   snarky post

   

   no name, Jan 20th, 2009 @ 8:08am

   
   

   I thought free WAS the market value for Idol content.

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10.  

    What do you mean, free?

    

    anonymous coward, Jan 21st, 2009 @ 8:56am

    
    

    I don't understand your statement that American Idol is free content. Fox pays the producers of American Idol HUGE amounts for the necessary copyright licenses to broadcast the show. Advertisers, in turn, pay Fox HUGE amounts for the rights to advertise on the show. The fact that consumers aren't paying to view it doesn't mean that it either the producers or Fox are giving it away for free.

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11.  

    

    ert43, May 22nd, 2009 @ 10:54pm

    
    

    good,China printing industry developed this years, who can tell us? China based plastic injection molding services with low costs and supeior quality Steel and aluminum scaffolding for construction is a very useful tool.

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12.  

    

    China Tent, Oct 8th, 2010 @ 11:49pm

    
    

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13.  

    

    China Tent, Oct 8th, 2010 @ 11:49pm

    
    

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