"Very few people downloading songs, movies, and software actually follow through and purchase what they're copying." There is no basis for this generalization. Back it up with facts, or perhaps examples similar to mine? Furthermore, having a low-quality TV-rip of a show and owning a near-perfect quality DVD copy with bonus features, multiple languages, etc. are absolutely NOT identical. Please stop with your overgeneralizing. It's making you no headway.
I wasn't looking for suggestions. I'm looking for solutions. Currently, I have my solution. Try before you buy. If my memory serves me correctly, this sort of practice is done everywhere. Free samples, shareware, free trail offers... but aside from a trailer that usually shows only the good(-looking) parts of a movie, there's no way to try a film without paying large sums of money. Yes, five dollars is a large sum of money for 1 1/4th - 4 hours of linear entertainment. Five dollars can feed people pretty well, in fact. Why should I waste good money on something I'm not sure is worth the purchase? I'm not going to unless it's worth it. End of story. I'm sure many other people feel very similarly on this situation, and you're definitely not giving them enough credit.