San Diego Comic-Con Confirmed to Stream Hall H Panels This Year

Last month it was announced that Comic-Con International had teamed up Lionsgate to created a new streaming video service for Comic-Con called Comic-Con HQ. When I went to WonderCon, I talked to one of the people at the Comic-Con HQ booth about the service, and I asked if they would be steaming Hall H panels. The guy told me no because they wanted to keep that experience for the hardcore Comic-Con fans. Well, it looks like they changed their minds. 

In an interview with /Film, General Manager of the Comic-Con HQ app Seth Laderman said that fans would in fact be able to watch the big panels that take place in Hall H. That's where you get the biggest and most exciting announcements from the event. But, there's a catch — the panels won't be streamed live. Laderman explained:

"The short answer is yes. We’re going to be working with every single studio, every single panel host to be able to take the content and put it on our platform. We’re not going to be live streaming anything because we really don’t want to take away that experience of people who are the first to see and be there for it, but we can put things up shortly after."

I guess this was bound to happen. There are a few conventions that already do this, except they do it live, like New York Comic Con and E3. It makes me wonder if some people would rather just stay at home now and watch all the panels they want to see without the headaches of trying to get a pass, a hotel room, and waiting in line. It would definitely save people money. But it's Comic-Con! The hardcore fans want to be there in person to see it all unfold live, right before their eyes!

There's also another catch, and that's that the studios don't want their exclusive footage to be shown on the streaming service. That will be removed from the footage screened. 

"That is one of the options as well and we’re going to be working with all the studios and the panel hosts to figure out what would be the best way to handle that, because a lot of these studios have their marketing plans and how they want to control their assets. We’re really just here as a conduit to be able to help promote everyone, similar to what Comic-Con is, so whatever’s best for them will be good for us."

With that bit of information coming into the light, I don't see the point. One of the main reasons people fight to get into Hall H is to see that exclusive footage. What do you all think? Would you rather stream the panels with no footage from the upcoming films, or would you rather be there and witness it all in person? I guess in the end, it's for the fans who weren't able to get in to the event. 

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