Gizmo

Work on S2 is already done. It'll come out eventually (there is actually a listing for Season 1-5 on Amazon.co.uk right now). Maybe a release later in the year or when S6 hits BD (next year...)

calhoun07

Oh, stop it. I never said that. I have a very valid point that the sales on DVD sets often don't translate into sales on the Blu-Ray sets, though. And do you HONESTLY think that double price or more for a Blu-Ray TV show over the DVD edition is worth THAT much extra money? I can understand a it being worth more, but not double or more. From some shows I've seen the difference is only five or ten bucks. I can deal with that. When you're asking double or more for a Blu-Ray there are some issues.

I think right now the thing that holds me back on buying TV shows on DVD when they aren't on Blu-Ray is the fear of the inevitable "complete series set" and that they could very well release the entire series on Blu-Ray at that point. It happened with Battlestar Galactica and it's happening with Lost, it could easily happen with House and some other shows. I did hear a rumor (or that may be better said I read a rumor online) that Big Love will come out in a complete series set on Blu-Ray. I love Big Love but refuse to buy any of the DVD sets hoping this comes to pass.

So as much as I want Community and 30 Rock season sets, it's that wondering if they will release them on Blu-Ray when they come out with complete series sets that really holds me back.

PopcornBandit

Cool. That's good to know.

davidh777

I get a little confused when you switch from multipliers to hard dollars, but based on your previous message about The Simpsons, I assume you're going on a model of $20 for a DVD set and $40 for BD? And since, say, Chuck doesn't look that much better on BD you think it should be $25-30 rather than an SRP of $70 and street price of $45-50?

I have no idea how much it really costs to produce a BD set of Chuck, but it seems like these economics get really shaky. Can Warner really make a profit off these kinds of prices? Or does Warner keep its profits and the retailers take the hit? Or does the packaged media break even, and the show's profits have to come through digital distribution and network advertising for a show that's on the verge of cancellation every year?

It's been well-documented that reality shows are replacing scripted shows due to costs (which of course is also a reason for TV on DVD revenue shrinking). If packaged media doesn't generate any money any more, then scripted shows become even shakier.

The same kind of concern affects DVD sets, though of course a higher price for BD makes it even worse.

I don't think anyone would disagree, but it's the economics we're trying to figure out.

calhoun07

I am going on an example of Breaking Bad season one, just for one example. Season one on DVD can be found for $12.00 if you hit the right sale at the right time. Season one on Blu-Ray was about $25.00 on amazon.com (which had the DVD down to $12.00) but when they marked the DVD down they RAISED the price on the Blu-Ray to about $28.00. That's the kind of stuff that pisses me off the most...I totally understand Blu-Ray costs more. But my thing is a sale price on one format should reflect on the other.

For the Simpsons I suppose the standard SRPs aren't that dramatically different, but the regular DVD season sets often go on sale for rock bottom prices. The Blu-Ray prices? They stay up there hovering around the $40.00 range. It's hard to justify dropping $40.00 for the Blu-Ray when upconverted animation looks damn fine and the DVD set is at a rock bottom price.

If anything, the percentage they take off of the DVD sets on a sale should likewise reflect on the Blu-Ray sets.

And for popular shows like House and 30 Rock and Community and some others I could see them putting a complete series set out on Blu in the future. Some other shows not quite as popular, maybe not, but for the bigger network shows I can see it happening.

b2net

I am seeing many HD TV titles on Amazon on Demand that are only available on DVD for physical media.

davidh777

Logically that makes perfect sense, but we're talking about large corporations here, and who knows why they do what they do. Are the sale prices dicated by the studios, or by the retailers, or by the retailers matching each other? And you're talking about many different corporations. Some may have a philosophy that it's better to cut the price of BD to grow the install base (has anyone paid $25 for 2001 on BD?). Some may want to keep BD priced as a "premium product." Maybe they have a desire to blow out the DVD but don't have the same concerns about the BD.

As a customer, it makes sense to have 60% off Lost season 6 regardless of format (then you get into SRP differences, which is yet another argument--Sopranos anyone?). It just doesn't work that way for a variety of reasons.

dolphinboy

I appreciate it. But a lot of where I'm coming from is based on me and my family not watching nearly as much tv as we used to. We are further hampered because we don't seem to hear anything about these shows on cable that often get better reviews than shows on the major networks and find ourselves too far behind with no time to catch up.

We have a stack on unwatched BDs bigger than we've ever had with DVD and we've been in the mood to watch all of Buffy, which is 1-2 shows before bed, so it will be quite some time before we get to the end.

We want to watch Breaking Bad, but just can't find the time. We do plan to rent season 1 of Mad Men and if we like it, we've talked about having the whole series.

I guess it's different. We just walk by our SD DVD movie shelves and pray that we'll be shocked and get everything (or very close) on Blu. Surprises like Secretary and High Tension give me some hope, but those kinds of realizes just don't happen fast enough for us.

calhoun07

If I pay for something I want to own it. Amazon.com can take their on demand and shove it. Then again, there is the blood of a collector running in me, so that has a lot to do with it.

calhoun07

It may not work that way for a variety of reasons, but they always site only ONE reason when they don't put something out on Blu-Ray...SALES!

b2net

Understand that one... Me too... It makes sense to me if 1 they can air in HD and 2 can be available in streaming HD, then why can't they be available to us in some sort of physical media for us to consume..

Alan Smithee

When a streaming service lists something in "HD", it just means it's in better quality than their normal titles. (My Vizio TV has Amazon streaming built-in, though I rarely use it since it's supposed to output 5.1 sound but doesn't.)

My rule for any media purchase is this: If it's available on Blu-Ray, I won't buy it on standard DVD. If the Blu-Ray is priced too high, I'll just wait for it to drop but I won't buy a standard DVD in its place.

Viper187

It's hard to believe the earlier seasons of 24 still haven't gone blu. If anything will sell in hi def, that show will, and the studio should fucking know it. I also don't get why Californication didn't go blu from the start. The 3rd season should be coming soon, but still no date set for DVD much less mention of a BD. The show is genius, and I'd definitely rebuy in hi def.

Michael Corvin

I agree about 24. Californication? Hardly a show that warrants HD. Sure it looks nice, but not worth the premium a BD set would fetch. The first season was excellent. Second? Not so much. Third was an improvement though.

WMAangel

Wait a minute, doesn't that show have a bunch of nudity in it? I'd say if anything, boobies definitely warrant HD!

Michael Corvin

I stand corrected. Obviously I was not thinking clearly at 1 am.

evilninjax

It is interesting you say this b/c I assume this is VERY commonplace. And what has happened is that the Studios have inadvertently created a Format War... with themselves. Bluray was thought to replace DVD and then give the Studios an additional cash stream as people had to re-buy their collections. But instead, it's caused the opposite as many people now hold off on buying even DVDs b/c they may upgrade and are holding off on buying Blurays b/c they are too expensive.

My irony meter exploded!

thx
-goro-

calhoun07

Upgrading some of my DVDs might be worth it if they actually improved the release on Blu-Ray. One I waited for...Creepshow...didn't even come out with the same bonus features as the region two two disc special edition DVD. Maybe that's what is also holding sales back...fans see skimpy Blu-Ray releases and know that is what they did with DVD back in the day only to put out new and improved versions later on.

And I don't know how much more Blu-Rays have to be to be considered too expensive, but I have often found them for not much more or sometimes less than their DVD counterparts.

Gizmo

Previous Fox catalog (Prison Break S1...and something else) didn't sell well. So it's a very big risk to release catalog TV show onto a format that is already very niche. It worked out well for Lost, but that's about it (BSG was a complete series, they didn't piece them out from the start. BIG risk from Universal, and it really didn't break out the sales figures either).

maxfisher

First they dropped the format for Louie Season 3 and now they've done the same for Wilfred Season 3. Anyone hear anything on this? Looks like with these two sets, they've given exclusive rights to Amazon's MoD DVD service. The Bridge just came out on Blu, so maybe they're just doing it with shows that haven't had great sales in the past, or maybe just with comedies? It seems like they & Amazon could at least come up with a MoD Blu-ray option.

joltman

I'd imagine the only reason they would go with Amazon MoD is because the sales of the previous seasons weren't too good.

My Other Self

The League Season 5 was announced yesterday for DVD only, whereas all 4 seasons have been released on BD so far.

Maybe they're giving up BD for their comedy series. I hope that doesn't mean so for Archer, though.

Josh Z

FX is just the broadcast outlet. The executives at the network have no say about what gets released on Blu-ray.

All of the shows you mention are produced and distributed on home video by 20th Century Fox. Obviously, Fox is the parent company of FX. However, Fox produces shows for a lot of other networks too. Rather than worry about whether FX is ditching Blu-ray, you should worry about what Fox as a whole is doing with TV on Blu.

maxfisher

Has Fox gone to Amazon's MoD for any other programs? I only noticed it for the FX Series, which is why I called those out specifically, though you're right that it might not be specific to how Fox is treating FX/FXX shows.

Also, I was trying to find more info and noticed Amazon has up preorders for Blus of the newest seasons of Louie, Wilfred and the League. Given their exclusive agreement for the DVDs of at least two of those, I'm wondering if they're testing the waters and will put out HD versions on Blu if they get enough preorders. I know that the listing for Louie wasn't up 3-4 weeks ago, as I had searched for it then. The prices are high compared to past seasons ($36 each), but I went ahead and preordered all three, in the off chance they have them up to gauge demand.

Wezzo

Yes, Bob's Burgers, Last Man Standing, The Glades and The Killing are all MOD releases now, and American Dad is going to be, too.