Fox: How About WKRP Without the Music? (1 Viewer)

[Eugene Esterly]

WKRP shows a problem with bringing certain TV shows to DVD (this is also a problem for the Beavis & Butthead TV show). WKRP used copyrighted music to make WKRP seem like a real radio station. The main thing is that no-one thought that TV shows would be sold to the public.

It's a double edged sword. The royalties for music were cheaper when WKRP was on the air. But royalty fees for music are higher now. For example, I own Blues Brothers on DVD. The director of Blues Brothers also directed Animal House. In the documentary on my Blues Brothers DVD, the director said that he paid about $7,000 to license a Sam Cooke song. The director said that the same Sam Cooke song would now cost about $60,000 to license it.

That's the main problem with trying to bring WKRP to DVD. The royalty fees for music are more higher than when WKRP was on TV.

 

[Lyle_JP]

WKRP got me into Pink Floyd because Johnny Fever was playing "Dogs." I'd be pissed if they cut that out or put in a "sound alike."

Indeed. The "Dogs" scene was the very first thing I thought of when reading this thread!

-Lyle J.P.

 

[Jaime_Weinman]

I should add, again, that I don't want songs replaced. But it's a fact that to release the show with every song intact would be very expensive. If The Mary Tyler Moore Show sells well (as I hope it will), WKRP would be a good candidate for the next MTM show to make it to the DVD format -- except for all that music. And the point is that watching the show in syndication is a frustrating experience, because of the cuts, because of the poor prints, and because of the frankly inept music changes and redubbing. So if WKRP made it to the DVD format with some songs changed, but with uncut, remastered episodes, essential songs restored, and incidental songs replaced as tastefully as possible, I would consider that an acceptable tradeoff. It would be better than having to rely on badly edited, badly-redubbed syndication versions forever.

Something like "Dogs" is an example of a song that is essential, I agree, but that's because it is the focus of the scene -- Mr. Carlson reacts to the barking dogs, talks about the record, the name of the group is mentioned. But in that same episode, there are two other songs that are only played in brief snippets, to lead in and out of the Turkey Drop scene. No one mentions the names of those songs, or refers to them. If they were replaced skilfully -- meaning something with a similar rhythm, put in by someone who is familiar with the show and how the songs work in the scenes -- I think I could accept that in exchange for getting that episode complete and with "Dogs" in its proper place. I don't really like myself for saying that, but I do want that show on DVD and I don't think it's possible if no music changes whatsoever are done.

One thing that makes the WKRP music particularly problematic is that they benefited from some arcane ASCAP rule that made music licensing fees much lower for shows on videotape. Originally WKRP was supposed to be shot on film, and MTM switched to videotape precisely so they could take advantage of this "discount" and be able to license many more songs than they could have otherwise. This discount no longer exists, of course.

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Guys, we all want WKRP on DVD, but even with my idea, the likelyhood of it happening at the moment is slim to none

Unless you can find someone with about $10 million to spare, far more than Fox will see from these sets. Fox wants to do it right or not at all is the impression I get.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Fox wants to do it right or not at all is the impression I get.

And this is the position I support. There may come a time when these rights issues are worth addressing this show, but I would hate for Fox, or anyone else, to start chopping up TV series just to rush them to market.

 

[Brian McHale]

My $0.02:

If they can't do it right, don't. If they can't get the music, don't bother.

A lot of people seem to think that because Fox is making so much money on their other TV-on-DVD product that they should be able to afford to license the music for WKRP. They seem to be missing the point that Fox only wants to produce a product if they can make money on it. The licensing fees for WKRP would probably be so high that they could never make money on it. If they priced it competitively with other TV-on-DVD products, they would never recoup their investment. On the other hand, if they charged enough so that they would stand a chance at making money, most people would complain that it was too expensive and wouldn't buy it.

My opinion is that we'll never see this unless someone can devise a new model for licensing music for older TV shows.