Periscope, a new live streaming app on iOS, has reporters getting kicked off of beats and telecom companies threatening to sue. Periscope offers a unique way to obtain and create content on mobile devices, allowing users to watch or host live streams. This new invention has become a threat to businessmen everywhere.

Stephanie Wei, a young golf blogger who was covering the Professional Golf Association (PGA) tour on April 30, had her credentials revoked for the rest of the season. She used Periscope to stream a practice session that would not have been televised otherwise. This violated the PGA tour’s policy resulting in her suspension from covering the tour. The policy that is set surrounds content ownership during the popular golf tour. According to the policy, the PGA tour owns all the actions, words and other events that occur during the tour. The content that Wei was streaming technically didn’t belong to her, in fact they didn’t belong to the golfers either.

The Mayweather v Pacquiao fight took place on May 2 and in order to watch it people had to dish out hundreds of dollars to get it on pay-per-view or spent even more money on house tickets. However, for people who don’t care about quality, Periscope was there to help out. Users were streaming the fight, but HBO said this could be a “major copyright infringement”.

So how can this brilliant idea for a fun, innovative app survive greedy big wigs and a careless user base? The problem isn’t Periscope, but the people prosecuting it. Clearly there is an audience eager to dig into this feed of live video and where there is media, there is money. In order to save Periscope from unnecessary attack, these corporate suits need to be reminded of the monetary possibilities.

The people working for the PGA tour need to stop looking in the past and step into the now. If they want non-stop coverage of their events that is captivating to the general public, they must allow reporters to use these new media outlets. They can partner with reporters to draw in their desired audiences. Audiences crave the opportunity to see players while they practice or during games that are not normally televised. Promoting an application as opposed to a TV service will create a feeling of exclusivity in the community and build interest in golf as a sport.

Furthermore, instead of trying to push away new technology, HBO should embrace it and make it work for their programs. I encourage HBO to reach out to the people at Periscope and host official streams of events through the application. Just because the video is broadcasted to phones doesn’t mean it has to be captured with one.

Now, from a business standpoint you are probably asking yourself one fundamental question. “How is this supposed to make money?” While the answer is easy, it may be hard for consumers and producers to accept. The answer is advertisements. Advertisements are like a holy grail for seemingly free entertainment. The viewer doesn’t have to shed a dime and yet the video generates ad revenue. What is this sorcery? It’s not magic. It is the power of ads.

My advice to Periscope is to integrate an optional monetization feature with their app. Adding this feature is the best way to please the money grabbing businessmen and the consumers. My hope is that eventually Periscope will be viewing grounds for a wide variety of live entertainment, from question-and-answer sessions with celebrities to professionally broadcasted events.

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