Final answer:
The aspect of piracy that costs broadcasters the most is pirates who would otherwise have paid for content, causing significant direct revenue loss. Additional costs from anti-piracy measures and unauthorized third-party sales also contribute, but the former represents the most substantial economic impact.
Step-by-step explanation:
The aspect of piracy that costs broadcasters the most money is pirates who would otherwise have paid for content. This includes individuals who, instead of purchasing a subscription or paying for media, choose to access the content illegally, depriving the content creators and broadcasters of potential revenue. It's a direct loss of income for companies because these are potential customers that are not paying for the service.
The losses due to piracy includes acknowledging that while friends sharing streams or third-party sales of pirated content also contribute to revenue losses, the biggest hit comes from a significant number of potential consumers choosing to get the content from pirates instead. These losses are more impactful than the costs related to protecting products from piracy or the minimal impact of casual sharing among friends at home, which is harder to track and stop. Companies invest in anti-piracy technology and take legal action, but these expenses are often less than the cumulative loss of revenue from many individuals choosing to not pay for the legally accessible content.
It is also important to note that with the advent of satellite radio companies like SiriusXM, which offer streaming music services that are excludable to subscribers only, there is a considerable amount of revenue to be protected. These services, unlike traditional radio broadcasts, can prevent unauthorized access, thereby controlling piracy to some extent.