popegregFKAgoblin23

Ah gotcha. Stupid Amazon really needs to fix that.

My Other Self

Fox puts ads on their iTunes videos too, but short of a 16 second spot before an episode starts all of the commercials are relegated to the end.

LPMA

There's been 8 shows so far that I used to buy that moved towards MoDs (Awkward, Cleveland Show, Raising Hope, Bob's Burgers, American Dad, The Killing, Happy Endings, Drop Dead Diva) and I haven't bought a single one of them. Not only are they terribly cheap releases, they never go down in price and do cost more than normal releases.

I really hope they don't look at the sale figures and think "See, I knew this wouldn't sell" because I can't be the only one reacting that way.

PhantomStranger

The executives know most people have little interest in MOD sets and plan accordingly. It's a token gesture to keep the show available on home video.

davidh777

They shouldn't put commercials on episodes you've paid for.

My Other Self

I completely agree.

I'm just glad they haven't started putting them in during the commercials breaks. I use video editing software to trim the fat but if they interjected them in throughout the episode I wouldn't be able to without chopping it up and then re-encoding it (which takes 100 times as long and wouldn't be worth the effort).

My Other Self

Always Sunny has really been hitting its stride the last few seasons (and last season was the show's best, IMO) so it should be no surprise that it looks like Fox is releasing it as DVD only in September.

http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Sunny-P...Season-9/19990

morriscroy

Not just "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia".

There's been some rumblings about season 9 of Bones possibly being released also as dvd-only on September 16, 2014. (Seasons 4 to 8 of Bones were released on bluray).

tvshowsondvd.com/news/Bones-Season-9/20012


Wonder what's the next shoe to drop.

My Other Self

That sucks.

I really hope this doesn't affect The Simpsons or Archer.

Alan Smithee

How well do the next DVD-only seasons end up selling? I'd be pissed off if it happened with a series I was collecting- like in the laserdisc days when a favorite artist's video would get released on LD, then the next one only on VHS. I refused to bend over and buy the VHS just because that was my only choice.

morriscroy

Here's the link for season 4 of Hawaii Five-0 possibly being dvd-only.

tvshowsondvd.com/news/Hawaii-Five-0-Season-4/19958


(Seasons 1 to 3 of the revived Hawaii Five-0 were released on bluray).

Why So Blu?

The League Season 5 does have a BD for pre-order. New Girl season 3 is DVD, 2 Broke Girls season 3 is DVD also (different network), and The Killing Season 3 was also DVD only.

morriscroy

Good question.

I would guess at minimum, some bluray buyers of previous seasons will drop out of the dvd numbers of subsequent dvd-only seasons, for reasons similar to Alan's scenario. Other bluray buyers may drop out due to subsequent seasons being lackluster/crap.

The unknown numbers at this point is how may blurays of previous seasons were actually sold. This would indicate how many potential "principled protesters" + "this subsequent season sucks" abstainers from the now-former bluray pool will be absent from the dvd-only numbers of subsequent seasons.

If the number of blurays sold of previous seasons was miniscule compared to the dvd version, then it probably doesn't matter much if most of the bluray customers never buy any subsequent dvd-only seasons. Such former bluray customers become a part of the "attrition" numbers.


The "attrition" numbers would include the people who:

- thought the subsequent season was lackluster/crap
- have money problems
- lost interest in the show
- no longer have any interest in buying the dvds
- etc ...

morriscroy

One can look further back in time, and see what other tv shows discontinued the bluray versions, and continued on with dvd-only releases for subsequent seasons. (North America releases).


Discontinued after one season released on bluray

- Damages
- 2 Broke Girls
- Grey's Anatomy
- White Collar
- Lie To Me
- Scrubs
- How I Met Your Mother
- Rescue Me
- NCIS: Los Angeles
- Burn Notice
- Nip Tuck
- The Killing
- Stargate Universe
- Flashpoint
- etc ...

Discontinued after two seasons released on bluray

- CSI
- Rookie Blue
- Louie
- Wilfred

morriscroy

To keep track of this, here's a partial "wall of shame" list so far of recent rumblings about blurays being possibly discontinued in favor of dvd-only for subsequent seasons.


dvd-only already released

- Wilfred (season 3)
- Louie (season 3)


dvd version officially announced, but not much mentioned officially about bluray version

- It's Sunny In Philadelphia (season 9)
- Bones (season 9)
- The League (season 5)
- revived Hawaii Five-0 (season 4)


(For that matter, other upcoming Fox releases).

no official announcement yet of dvd and/or bluray

- Modern Family (season 5)
- Glee (season 5)
- 24: Live Another Day
- American Horror Story (season 3)

(Of these four). If I had to guess, 24 and AHS would probably be released on bluray. Dunno about Glee and Modern Family, with Fox on its recent rampage.

DJariya

24 Live Another Day is getting a Blu Ray release. It was already announced and an Amazon pre-order is available.

This thread probably needs an updated title now like....TV shows ditched on Blu-Ray after poor sales or something along those lines.

morriscroy

So far only the UK bluray version has an actual release date (Oct 6, 2014).


For that matter, the UK bluray version of AHS season 3 has an actual release date of October 20, 2014.


I tend not to trust amazon pre-order listings until there's an actual official release date.

morriscroy

For that matter, looking further through the UK amazon listings, there's no official release dates for possible bluray versions of the above listed season sets, other than 24 and AHS.

Why So Blu?

Here's The League season 5 on Blu for pre-order.


http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...&tag=cheblo-20

My Other Self

That doesn't mean anything. All of the Fox shows that were now officially announced for DVD were initially announced by different ordering outlets to include both DVD and Blu-ray. There's no release date on the Amazon listing with a generic case mockup.

LorenzoL

I hope is just an oversight and they don't drop The League and Archer on Blu-ray.

fumanstan

I've bought all the Archer sets on blu, so I hope that continues.

morriscroy

If these recent possible bluray discontinuations turn out to be true in the end, then this is probably the last gasp of tv on bluray for current shows that are not sci-fi/fantasy or "premium cable". (At least in america).

One show to keep an eye on over the next year, is The Blacklist. If this "last gasp" conjecture has any truth, then it wouldn't be too surprising if season 2 of The Blacklist never sees a bluray version released (in America). (The season 1 bluray is being released next month on August 12).


In the case of Warner, at times I wonder why they're releasing some bluray season sets of current shows as bluray/dvd/digital combo packs. Since mid-2012, shows like: Person of Interest, Big Bang Theory, Revolution, The Following, Vampire Diaries, Arrow, etc ... have been done as bluray/dvd/+ combo packs. On the other hand during that same time period (since mid-2012), there were other shows that were not released as bluray/dvd/+ combo packs such as: Nikita, Fringe, Supernatural, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Falling Skies, Chuck, etc ...

The only semi-plausible explanation I can guess offhand, would be that Warner considers these bluray/dvd combo pack shows as "borderline" cases, where they don't have as much confidence in the season sets selling on their own as a bluray without a dvd copy.

In the cases of Nikita, Fringe, Chuck, and Star Wars: Clone Wars being released as a bluray without a dvd copy, I strongly suspect they were released in this manner because these shows were ending anyways in 2012 or 2013. There was probably no point anymore in "piggybacking" the bluray with a dvd copy, as an attempt to attract new customers to buy the bluray of a tv show that is ending its run.

morriscroy

On the surface, it appears Warner's way of dealing with some tv bluray season sets, is releasing them through "Warner Archive". They already made several tv on bluray releases over the last 8+ months in this manner:

Longmire - seasons 1 + 2
Beware the Batman - season 1 parts 1 and 2
Green Lantern: The Animated Series
Batman The Brave and The Bold - season 1
The Mentalist - season 1

shop.warnerarchive.com/category/television/tv+on+blu-ray.do?nType=2

I wouldn't be surprised if Warner ends up dumping some more upcoming tv bluray seasons sets into their Warner Archive service, for titles which they don't have much confidence in. (ie. Instead of doing a wide general release).

PhantomStranger

Warner's strategy depends on whether they believe retail chains will carry the item. It is all tied to skus and what the corporate buyers for Walmart and Target deem worthy for carriage. I think Warner was hoping a single combined sku would get a few DVD buyers to pick up the more expensive BD set. I know they view the BD + DVD + DC sets as an added promotional feature meant to juice sales. When first-week buyers are dropping $40 for a season, they want the illusion of a good perceived value.