Should the Major Studios Just Give Up? (1 Viewer)

[Scott_F_S]

THAT's got to be a market that isn't even a blip on any studio's screen.

 

[Ethan Riley]

Hey, Scott, seeing how CR-AZY you are about tv on dvd, going so far as to post your collection online, it makes me wonder about your p.o.v. There really is a demand for classic tv on dvd; this forum proves it. I reiterate that the demand is there, and that the major studios don't know how to market for it, and don't know how to please the fans once they do. Alternate methods are required.

It will be interesting to see if the "direct market" approach they're using with Get Smart will be beneficial to sales. Maybe they have the right idea. They'll be directly marketing to the people who want this show; no brick-and-mortar to contend with.

 

[Gary OS]

Based on what I've seen of his online list of dvds, I'd say that's a massive understatement, Ethan. It's easy to be dismissive when one obviously doesn't have an interest in a particular portion of the dvd market.

I'll say again that Ethan is spot on with his call for some different approaches whether that be "other" companies getting rights to classics and then releasing them OR direct market. There is a demand for the classics to be released, and it's much more than just a "blip" on some yahoo's radar.

Gary "just a blip... if the studios think that then they are more clueless than I ever could have imagined" O.

 

[TravisR]

I'm not trying to be antagonistic but do you guys really think an 'old' show will sell that well? It'll definitely sell to its audience but that audience is small. If it wasn't small, all the classic era shows that have been released (I Love Lucy, The Twilight Zone, The Dick Van Dyke Show, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, etc) would have been big sellers and you'd have seen a helluva lot more classic releases. While I'm sure that the big classic TV titles have met the expectations of the studios releasing them, I really doubt that any of their expectations were blown away either.

That being said, the direct market and licensing seem like great ideas to get the shows out that that audience wants to see.

 

[michael_ks]

Personally, I see a big difference between the release of the shows you mentioned and those classics that have yet to see an official release. Let's look at them individually.

"I Love Lucy"--This show has been continually on the air for over 50 friggin' years. Many fans have videos or used recordable dvds to record the episodes or are at least by now, over this one.

"The Twilight Zone"--Although the definitive sets are well made and the show is a firm favorite of mine, I will not purchase until the price of the sets come down. Three dollars per half hour segment is out of line. "Star Trek" TOS falls into this category as well, except that Paramount is bilking an obviously more prominent fan base here.

"The Dick Van Dyke Show"--I believe sales figures were very reasonable for this series and reportedly the sets were treated with great care. Again, a show that is known for its omnipresence on cable stations over the years.

"Alfred Hitchcock Presents"--Word spread like wildfire over the net regarding the shoddy treatment this series received: edited Hitchcock intros, DVD-18s snafu, unnecessary placement of plot spoilers on menus, etc.

Interestingly enough, although I'm a classic tv fanatic, I did not purchase any of these sets. On the whole, I much more into drama rather than comedy and I steered clear of AHP and TZ (for now) for the above stated reasons. But no one can convince me that series that were HUGE back in their day, if accorded a solid TLC treatment for transfer quality, packaging and extras would not be solid sellers. I'm speaking specifically of series like "Batman", "The Fugitive", "Wagon Train", "The Untouchables", "The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and "Route 66".

 

[Scott_F_S]

That list hasn't been updated in months. I just never have removed it, which I'll do now.

I'll go back to my earlier sarcastic reference to marketing geniuses. You say there really is a demand for classic TV on DVD. Can you back up that statement? What evidence do you have that there is? I would bet you that there are a lot of highly paid market researchers out there who can provide mountains of evidence to the contrary, and if there really is any kind of significant demand out there, the studios would be all over it.

A handful of posters to an online forum does not a market make.

 

[Jeff Willis]

Quote:
Originally Posted by michael_ks
And then there are those of us who neither subscribe to cable or satellite who just want the shows from the 50s-80s...


Well, then call me a "blip" too since I'm in this category group as well for the most part. I do have a few '90's sets but it's a very small part of my TV/DVD collection. I only watch the Satt for sports and local news/weather.

OT: DDD's summer 20%-off sale is in progress thru this Sat. I'm about to finally get that Star Trek TOS series.

 

[TravisR]

Unfortunately if they put the TLC and extras that those shows deserve, they'd price themselves out of what alot of people are willing to pay. You said that you won't pay $3 an episode for The Twilight Zone. If they put the money into the sets that you want, the price will have to increase and some people won't buy it. If they don't put money into it, alot of people will whine (as you said, word spreads like wildfire over the internet) that they're just dumping it on DVD with no effort and won't buy it.

 

[Phyll]

There is a market for older shows on dvd. The Wild Wild West made it to number one on Amazon and so did I Love Lucy. I think if customers know that the sets are well done they will bite. It seems to me the softest older show dvd market is shows from the 80's which I don't understand. You would think shows from the 80's would be bigger sellers. The main reason I think big studios should give up is that if they start a show they don't seem to want to finish it-Barney Miller etc. I mean the first season of Barney Miller was okay but it took some time for the characters to develop. I think most shows are that way. There are exceptions to that rule of course. I am thinking direct marketing is the way to go with older shows though because it lowers distribution costs I would think. I do like having the dvd set in my hands though. I mean I can't believe what Universal did to Kate and Allie-I won't pay $20 for six episodes and half of them are syndicated versions. Noway!! I think Warner Brothers blew it with Nightcourt. I was really surprised that Growing Pains tanked. I do think there is a market for the older shows. But I am with one of the previous posters who is waiting for the prices to come done on some of the sets like Twilight Zone etc. I have two seasons to go on the Dick Van Dyke Show but I am balking at paying $50 or more for the sets. It just seems that the larger studios have messed up the dvd market and with cable now stinking to high heavens what options does a person have? VHS anyone?

 

[michael_ks]

In the case of "Man from U.N.C.L.E.", "Batman", "Sea Hunt" and "The Fugitive", I most certainly do. I don't think you realize just how popular these shows were with the masses.

 

[Jay_B!]

not all of us who still watch new series are "old show haters". I have gotten every MTM, Taxi, Soap and Diff'rent Strokes set to date (not using examples from the 70's and 80's like Golden Girls and Three's Company that still get played a lot in reruns), you have no idea how excited I was when Gimme A Break and The Facts Of Life were released and will certainly buy each future set, and I am still waiting with baited breath for shows like Maude, One Day At A Time, Alice and Family Ties to come out. I love all of those shows and will never stop, but at the same time, I also cannot wait to get this past seasons episodes of Medium, Supernatural, Ghost Whisperer and Desperate Housewives on DVD. There is a large audience of people who love both the 60's-80's and 90's-00's shows. I don't see why being excited that I'm going to get to own the 2005-2006 season of Supernatural in September means I have any less interest in finishing off Taxi.

 

[FrancisP]

There's no doubt that there is a a market out there for classic tv. Warner said that 'The Adventures of Superman Season 1' exceeded their expectations. About the only thing getting out at Paramount are tv-dvds which include 'The Brady Bunch', 'The Andy Griffith Show' , and 'Hogan's Heroes'.

Here's a little blurb from Home Media Retailing
"Since its May 6 release, I Love Lucy: Season Six has outsold three of the studio's South Park complete-season sets already in the market, as well as the Jackass Boxed Set, Laguna Beach: The Complete First Season and Star Trek: Fan Collective Borg, released in March of this year."

Also given the proliferation of online sites, retailers are not as critical. A release can still succeed without being widely available at the retail level. You don't need retailers to carry 10 copies of a release to succeed.

 

[Joe Karlosi]

And yet I've loved the quality and extra features on these excellent Lucy Season Sets so much that as much as I've seen these episodes over my lifetime it's like I'm truly seeing them for the FIRST time.

 

[MatthewA]

Has I Love Lucy been continually on the air for over 50 friggin' years in uncut, restored, remastered versions?

Nope.

 

[Tabetha]

I truly hope that one day a lot of our old favorites will be on dvd or some other format in the future. If it has to be from downloading them from the internet then so be it.

But, from what some others have said I agree that it hurts sales when a customer can't find the dvds of a season on the shelves of their store. I had been all excited that the first season of Growing Pains was out and went to Walmart to get it only to find that it wasn't on the shelves. Not in any store that I visited. I had been quite disappointed.

 

[Ethan Riley]

The Lucy sets are unbelievably well-done. Then again, Lucy is the Tiffany's of television and they could hardly get away with a sloppy release. It's probably one of the best dvd sets ever made, as befits one of the best tv shows ever made.

Oh and by the way, Scott F S, if you want me to prove there's demand for classic tv on dvd, then read FrancisP's quote above, about Lucy's sales. There's good tv shows in every decade, so that's why I don't really understand your point of view. Not everything is about what's current. Good tv shows are like good movies; people just keep watching them, long past their time.

 

[Scott_F_S]

I never addressed the quality of any shows. My argument is not that there are no good old TV shows. My argument is that I don't believe there is a substantial market for old/classic TV shows on DVD. Just because I Love Lucy was a top seller doesn't mean there is much else that would be.

Look, all I'm saying is that just because a handful of people on this forum crave this stuff doesn't mean that there would be a decent market for it among the general public.

I have to believe that if there were any kind of evidence that a market exists and that this product could be sold at a price point that would be profitable, the stuff would be released. This stuff hasn't just been ignored in a vault somewhere. Marketing and research staffs have crunched numbers and they don't add up, a handful of insistent Internet forum posters notwithstanding.

 

[Ethan Riley]

That's just it; there are a handful of internet posters. Because the vast majority of people in the world do not post in internet forums. Consider the postings you see here to be a sampling of public opinion. A LOT of people want to see this stuff. I mean, "Here Come the Brides" came out for heaven's sake. And "That Girl." And "The Flying Nun." Now here comes "Family Affair." This isn't a joke, it's really happening.

 

[Bryan^H]

A good indicator of a series on dvd is Amazon.com. Every time a classic tv show is released on dvd I always check the sales rank of the title. About 95% of the shows released break the top 100 mark. Most actually make it in the teens or better. Out of about 12,000 dvd's, and the sheer volume of dvd's bought through Amazon that is pretty darn good. It also shows there is a signifigant market for classic television on dvd.

 

[MarkHastings]

I'm late to the party here, so I appologize if this has been mentioned before...As far as B&M stores go, shelf space is a MAJOR $$ maker. Studios really can't afford to waste premium shelf space with releases that won't sell.

So as far as the Seinfeld, Friends, Simpsons, Family Guy, etc. - Those are the money makers. They make a great return in shelf space.

Would you pay a million dollars to display a release that will only make you $200,000??? or would you rather go with a release that makes you 3 million???

-yes I made those numbers up, but I'm sure it's something similar to the above scenario.