slop101

You would think comedies would sell better than dramas, since they're more re-watchable.

BobO'Link

I think what's being overlooked is that most "regular" consumers really don't care that much about quality - after all, they're the ones who seem to love low quality streaming services - so they'll go for which ever one is less expensive. If they even own a BR player it'll upscale that DVD to more-than-acceptable quality levels for "just a TV show."

Alan Smithee

Nip/Tuck season 4 was great on HD-DVD. After watching that I wanted to see the rest of the series, but not in standard-def.

fujishig

I think that probably plays into part of the problem... comedies are largely episodic, which probably makes for easier rewatch, but also allows you to just watch or dvr re-runs of currently airing shows without worrying about missing too much. Serial dramas tend to reward binge watching a lot more, and catching an episode out of context (or missing an episode) can sometimes be a deterrent, so having it available in a set that you could watch at any time makes more sense. IMHO, at least, there are many times I miss an episode (usually due to severe DVR backlog deleting something), then just wait until the disc is released to catch up. On the other hand, if it's available for streaming and you already subscribe to the service, why buy the physical media, especially when it's first released?

I mean, I love the Simpsons and have faithfully collected the sets, but it's on all the time. Plus, streaming and DVRs have made the process of turning on a Blu ray player, inserting the disk, and (most of all) sitting through the forced commercials at disc startup, then finding the episode you want to watch, seem very cumbersome.

morriscroy

As a semi-tangential parallel, one could examine possible past precedents of Warner going wobbly, such as how they dealt with tv on hd-dvd. (Not really an apples-to-apples comparison).


The earliest hd-dvd movies released by Warner which I could find, were: The Last Samurai, Phantom of the Opera, and Million Dollar Baby on April 18, 2006.

The earliest bluray movies released by Warner which I could find, were: Training Day, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Rumor Has It, and Good Night Good Luck, on August 1, 2006, and Lethal Weapon 1, Blazing Saddles, Full Metal Jacket, and Firewall on September 5, 2006.

The first Warner tv on hd-dvd set was season 5 of Smallville released on November 28, 2006. (The dvd version was released two months earlier on September 12, 2006). Season 5 was not released on bluray.

The second Warner tv on hd-dvd set appears to be season 6 part 1 of The Sopranos, where it was released along with the bluray version on the same day: December 19, 2006. (The dvd version was released a month earlier on November 7, 2006).

About a year later in September/October 2007, Warner released the tv on hd-dvd titles: season 4 of Nip/Tuck (September 4, 2007), season 6 of Smallville (September 18, 2007), and season 6 part 2 of The Sopranos (October 23, 2007). These three hd-dvd tv season sets were simultaneously released with their corresponding respective dvd and bluray versions on their same respective release dates.


Not much data to go on here. But it may suggest the Warner bosses calling the shots in the home video division were somewhat pragmatic all along, and were not particularly "partisan" when it came to the hd-dvd vs bluray format war.

By early->mid 2007, they probably had enough sales data to make informed decisions on releasing certain tv season sets in all three formats. (No idea what led them to roll the dice on season 4 of Nip/Tuck).

The question with today's bosses in Warner's home video division, is whether they're also pragmatic and data driven. (Assuming the present management regime isn't in a "lame duck" phase).

davidh777

I also think the demographic for two of the shows mentioned, 2 Broke Girls and Mike & Molly, doesn't fit the BD demographic.

I still have seasons 5 and 6 on HD DVD. I guess I'd have to go digital if I wanted another HD version.

morriscroy

Wonder how much of the BD demographic buys the bluray season sets of The Big Bang Theory.

morriscroy

Not surprisingly, The Lottery was canceled by Lifetime.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/liv...-season-741832

I doubt this will be released on bluray.

Wonder if Warner is ever going to release this show on dvd. If they do, I suspect it will go the MOD dvd route. (ie. Similar to what was done recently for "Almost Human").

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3314228/companycredits

Giles

I find it tacky that Fox relegates 'Bob's Burgers' to DV-R status/release ...

PhantomStranger

I think there is a chance that some company licenses that show for home video.

morriscroy

Maybe Olive will pick it up? (Like what they're doing for subsequent seasons of "King of the Hill").

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Kin...-7-and-8/20245

PhantomStranger

Possibly.

TheMovieman

I noticed now Bones: Season 9 is DVD only. There was a Blu-ray pre-order up but now it's gone.

DJariya

Bones season 9 was released over a month ago. I picked up the DVD a few weeks ago. Yeah I was also disappointed they went DVD only despite the last few seasons being on BD. The sales for season 8 must have really sucked.

TheMovieman

Yeah, I hadn't paid attention until recently when I noticed previous seasons were on sale.

My Other Self

It's been released on BD since Season 4, so it's disappointing.

Fox sent out the press release for Season 5 of Archer on BD, so that along with The Simpsons are still getting output.

morriscroy

Not surprisingly, season 2 of The Bridge might be going dvd only.

http://tvshowsondvd.com/news/Bridge-Season-2/20475

morriscroy

Also season 3 of Longmire going dvd only.

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Lon...Season-3/20455

(Not even an amazon bluray placeholder).

Perhaps not too surprising for this show, considering the season 1+2 bluray set was a Warner Archive release.

morriscroy

(I don't know if this means anything).

The amazon placeholder of the dvd version of season 2 of The Blacklist is actually a preorder with "This title has not yet been released.
You may pre-order it now and we will deliver it to you when it arrives."

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00NX77IWK


In contrast, the amazon placeholder for the bluray version of season 2 of The Blacklist doesn't even have a preorder. It just says "Currently unavailable.
We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock."

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00NX7ECYC

morriscroy

(Adding more fuel to the speculative fire).

All these amazon bluray placeholders have been quietly changed to non-preorders, saying:

"Currently unavailable. We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock. "

or

"Sign up to be notified when this item becomes available." (For TURN).


In contrast, the amazon placeholders for the respective dvd versions of these same season 1 shows are still preorders, which all say "This title has not yet been released. You may pre-order it now and we will deliver it to you when it arrives."

joltman

The latest Robot Chicken special (DC Comics 2) wasn't released on BD. I hope that's not a sign of things to come for Adult Swim shows, especially Venture Bros

morriscroy

(More starz/anchor bay shows).

"Low Winter Sun" was released on dvd back in August, but not on bluray in america. (It was released on bluray in europe).


The dvd version of "Da Vinci's Demons" season 2 has an amazon preorder placeholder, but the bluray version's placeholder is a non-preorder that says "Currently unavailable. We don't know when or if this item will be back in stock." (It appears the season 2 bluray is being released in europe).


On the other side of the coin, Anchor Bay is giving a shot on the bluray for season 1 of "Black Sails" for a January 2015 release. (Black Sails is already renewed for a season 3)

http://seriable.com/black-sails-renewed-season-3-starz/

morriscroy

In principle, there's the option of releasing such titles through Warner Archive. Whether Warner will pursue this avenue, will probably be determined by how large of a hardcore audience they think will buy such releases (judging by past sales data of previous releases).

I don't know what the minimum bluray sales figure they're looking at, for such Warner Archive releases. (ie. 500 copies? 1000 copies? 2000 copies? 5000 copies? 10k+ copies? etc ....).

The fact that anything is released through Warner Archive, is already a strong indicator that Warner probably doesn't have much confidence in the future sales of a general release for such Warner Archive released titles.

slop101

Well, Rick & Morty (my favorite new show) was a new AS show that just got a blu release, so who knows. I'm pretty sure Venture will still be getting blus.

morriscroy

Amazon placeholder for season 2 bluray of Sleepy Hollow.

http://www.amazon.com/Sleepy-Hollow-.../dp/B00O4CTSD0