progrocktv
Stunt Coordinator
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2006
- Messages
- 81
- Real Name
- Phil
Alright I've seen this argued in other threads so I decided to make it's own separate thread with hopefully a little insight I've gotten through experience while working in the "industry" (not directly related to DVD, but we dealt with lots of studios when dealing with TV series and some of it indirectly related to DVD releases) Now to be fair this is not necessarily standard practice with all the studios, as we know each studio have their own way of dealing with things, and these are only various bits and pieces of into put together to make a clearer picture.
First off when a studio decides to remaster a series for a DVD release, they usually have other plans for it as well (for example if a series is ordered by a major cable company, the series might be remastered for the syndication package as well as a potential DVD release to maximise the remastering cost effectiveness, and vice versa) Look at Star Trek the original series.
Now let's say the studio is unsure of the sales potential for a DVD release, so they'll split each season up in two sets, if the first one does not sell, then they cancel the run of the second half (it doesn't sound like much, but DVD releases cost studios MILLIONS to release, and one bad release can sink sales figures for an entire fiscal quarter.) A good example of this is the first release of the Mary Tyler Moore Show, the price was high, sales were HORRIBLE and Fox took a hit on it (in fact I've even heard it used as a buzzword in a few conversations referring to a poor selling release. "Keep it to 10,000, otherwise you're dealing with a MTM")
Next is consumer economics. As stated in another thread a $20-ish price tag is MUCH more appealing to consumers than $40-50. Once you're above, let's say $25 then you're driving the "impulse buy" away. Also many consumers do want to purchase an entire season but let's face it our economy is not at it's best and consumers have less and less disposable income now adays to plop down $60-$100 at one time.
And finally, I know it's sounds illogical and I'm probably going to upset some people on this forum, but many people, who are the hardcore fans of a series, are upset at the split season sets and are refusing to buy. That's all fine and dandy but honestly the hardcore fans aren't the most important customer to most of the studios and most of the time are only considered "a small, vocal minority". It's the "average consumer" they are after for the bulk of the sales most of the time and if a couple of diehard fans are upset, so be it. I've had quite a few conversations with sales departments of some of the major studios and the "Hardcores" as some of them call them, can be bittersweet, even hearing "fans can either be a blessing or a major thorn in the side". In other words they can help with the promotion of a series, which is considered a blessing, or they can be "whiners" which is then considered a burden. In other words if the hardcores aren't buying, but the general public IS, no big loss in the studio's eyes. Again this is NOT standard practice throughout the industry, but just a few pieces of information I've come across in my professional experience.
It all boils down to money, plain and simple. The bottom line is what drives a business and is the #1 priority (even above making people happy) I don't think I've ever meet anyone who is senior management level and above who is still in this business because they are a fan of movies or TV series, and releasing "a cool TV series" or something "for the fans" is still #1 priority. Sure it might have lured them in this industry in the first place, but as time goes by that passion is overshadowed by increasing ratings, profit for the company which in turn saves their ass from being fired (which is THEIR #1 priority). I have seen some GREAT upper-level managers on the programming side, who had a real passion for movies and TV and brought that I thought some cool things to the company I was working for, including some FANTASTIC rare TV shows, but the numbers did not come in, and they were quickly gone and replaced. I saw myself heading that direction, that's why I left the company, because the passion was replaced by survival (and if that's the way it was going to be then I can make a TON more money doing something else).
Anyways most of this is on the programming side, but I would easily see something similar happening in the DVD industry.
First off when a studio decides to remaster a series for a DVD release, they usually have other plans for it as well (for example if a series is ordered by a major cable company, the series might be remastered for the syndication package as well as a potential DVD release to maximise the remastering cost effectiveness, and vice versa) Look at Star Trek the original series.
Now let's say the studio is unsure of the sales potential for a DVD release, so they'll split each season up in two sets, if the first one does not sell, then they cancel the run of the second half (it doesn't sound like much, but DVD releases cost studios MILLIONS to release, and one bad release can sink sales figures for an entire fiscal quarter.) A good example of this is the first release of the Mary Tyler Moore Show, the price was high, sales were HORRIBLE and Fox took a hit on it (in fact I've even heard it used as a buzzword in a few conversations referring to a poor selling release. "Keep it to 10,000, otherwise you're dealing with a MTM")
Next is consumer economics. As stated in another thread a $20-ish price tag is MUCH more appealing to consumers than $40-50. Once you're above, let's say $25 then you're driving the "impulse buy" away. Also many consumers do want to purchase an entire season but let's face it our economy is not at it's best and consumers have less and less disposable income now adays to plop down $60-$100 at one time.
And finally, I know it's sounds illogical and I'm probably going to upset some people on this forum, but many people, who are the hardcore fans of a series, are upset at the split season sets and are refusing to buy. That's all fine and dandy but honestly the hardcore fans aren't the most important customer to most of the studios and most of the time are only considered "a small, vocal minority". It's the "average consumer" they are after for the bulk of the sales most of the time and if a couple of diehard fans are upset, so be it. I've had quite a few conversations with sales departments of some of the major studios and the "Hardcores" as some of them call them, can be bittersweet, even hearing "fans can either be a blessing or a major thorn in the side". In other words they can help with the promotion of a series, which is considered a blessing, or they can be "whiners" which is then considered a burden. In other words if the hardcores aren't buying, but the general public IS, no big loss in the studio's eyes. Again this is NOT standard practice throughout the industry, but just a few pieces of information I've come across in my professional experience.
It all boils down to money, plain and simple. The bottom line is what drives a business and is the #1 priority (even above making people happy) I don't think I've ever meet anyone who is senior management level and above who is still in this business because they are a fan of movies or TV series, and releasing "a cool TV series" or something "for the fans" is still #1 priority. Sure it might have lured them in this industry in the first place, but as time goes by that passion is overshadowed by increasing ratings, profit for the company which in turn saves their ass from being fired (which is THEIR #1 priority). I have seen some GREAT upper-level managers on the programming side, who had a real passion for movies and TV and brought that I thought some cool things to the company I was working for, including some FANTASTIC rare TV shows, but the numbers did not come in, and they were quickly gone and replaced. I saw myself heading that direction, that's why I left the company, because the passion was replaced by survival (and if that's the way it was going to be then I can make a TON more money doing something else).
Anyways most of this is on the programming side, but I would easily see something similar happening in the DVD industry.