In Randy Salas's excellent
article today (thanks to tvshowsondvd.com for the link), there's quite a bit of discussion about "WKRP In Cincinnati" and its status as a resident of Music Clearance Hell. It was mentioned that getting the music clearances would add $10 to the cost of each set, which would hurt sales, which would require an even higher price, and so on.
I suspect that Fox has done its share of market research into this question, so I can't confidently say that a "WKRP" set
would sell... but I can confidently say that I would gladly pay more for a "WKRP" complete season set as long as I knew it featured the uncut episodes with the music that has not been heard in syndication for years. Unlike "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," which is always playing somewhere, "WKRP" is hardly playing anywhere (I think TVLand has a chopped-up, musically butchered version), because it's in such bad shape musically that it can't be shown in its original form anywhere. DVD is practically the only hope fans have of seeing the episodes the way they were meant to be seen, and I can't think of a WKRP fan who wouldn't pay extra for the show (say, over and above the cost of a M*A*S*H set) if the set sported a sticker saying "Restored episodes with the original music" or something like that, just to let people know
why the extra cost. Extras are not important; what's important is the show itself, and I can't help thinking that there might be a market for a show that is currently practically a "lost" show... though, again, I can't say that for sure.
