Why Did Star Trek:TNG Bomb on Blu-ray?

[Vilya]

I bought this series on DVD and each season was expensive when released. Later, I bought the complete series blu-ray box set that was sold on Amazon.uk because it was far more affordable than buying the seasons individually here in the U.S. Shortly afterwards, there was a complete box set available in the U.S., but even it cost a bit more than the one I imported.

I think the price for this series on blu-ray was far more than what most people would pay for any TV show. It reminds me of the similarly ridiculous prices of the I Love Lucy and The Andy Griffith Show seasons on blu-ray when they were first released. If I remember right, these shows were priced at about $80 per season when released and not many people will pay that. I doubt if even Game Of Thrones could command such a price.

All of these shows have a lot of fans, but that does not mean they will pay a king's ransom to own them. All of them are probably available as reruns on TV or on streaming services and that is likely good enough for most fans.

It can be argued that a lot was spent to restore these shows and that justifies the high price (something they likely did for syndication anyway), but if that price caused people not to buy the product, then a hollow victory is the only prize this argument will win. Blaming the potential customer for not buying your product won't get you very far.

[Rory]

I think interest in Star Trek has slumped because there's too much ST out there and the reboot movies haven't been exactly great. Also, the Trekkies are picky and hypercritical. The new show is already being called a failure and it hasn't even aired yet.

[Packerfan75]

As a long time Star Trek fan, I can give my point of view on this.
- I have Netflix and it's been on there for a long time. I've seen them so many times that I don't get excited about buying them now.
-They rerun regularly on other tv channels. If I'm not purposely watching them on Netflix, I see them on tv. Why pay for something, I can see pretty much anytime?
- The seasons are pricey. Again, I can see them anytime now, I'd rather save those hundreds of dollars for other things.
- If I bought them now, I'd have no urge to watch them which seems like a waste of money. I need a long break before I could get into them again. It's just the way it is. I own TOS on Blu but watch them on Netflix. It's just easier that way.

[Sylvester1]

Netflix won't have the rights forever.
It seems like there is a difference between being a fan and being a collector.

I'm a lifelong Trek fan so not owning the Bluray sets was never an option.

[Normans Rare Guitars]

My biggest problem has to due with being burned twice already. The series has already been released twice on DVD and both times the individual seasons were followed up with a box set that had exclusive content.

I'd be happy to be each season one-at-a-time, but only if the first (or last) season comes in a box that contains all the others with an ABSOLUTE guarantee that when the final season arrives it will contain any and all bonus content.

Hardcore collector's have become too smart to simply buy single seasons. I understand the studio wants the revenue to help fund the restore, but you have to communicate with the buyers and let us know we won't be double/triple-dipped on the back end. I actually tried to make this point to the producers at a Comic Con panel three years ago and they didn't seem to understand how big a hole they were digging for themselves. There was a lot of excitement for the restoration process and they couldn't seem to separate the fan excitement from the buyer's trepidation.

At this point, they'd be much better off shopping this out to Shout Factory or some other company that does a better job of communicating with their buyers.

[ITDEFX101]

For me I was really impressed with the HD release. When the first DVD release came out, I easily spent around 100 bucks for each season. When the BR remasters came out I spent about 60-70 bucks on each season. It was worth every penny. It looked and sounded great. Certain effects shots had to be recreated because of the original elements were lost. So some were great, and others were not so good. I remembered seeing this weird glow/halo around the Enterprise at warp during the Season 4 remaster and I was like huh? Some shots of the Enterprise looked too CG to me. But over all as a whole I thought it was good investment. As others have said Netflix won't have the rights for star trek forever. Kinda worried that CBS will pull all things Star Trek from Netflix/Amazon/Hulu in order for people to pay for the CBS subscription thing to get their Trek Fix.

[Bradsdadg]

Originally Posted by Rory

I think interest in Star Trek has slumped because there's too much ST out there False. Interest in TNG and it's bluray releases should not really have anything to do with another totally separate tv series and the reboot movies haven't been exactly great.The movies are a completely different animal. Not really fair to compare them to tv shows. Also, the Trekkies are picky and hypercritical.How so? Because they don't want to pay for a tv show, when all others have been on non subscription based tv The new show is already being called a failure and it hasn't even aired yet.

[MEHEARTJC]

Originally Posted by PrestigeWorldwide

Did that many people really buy the DVD's? Out of all of the many Trekkies in my family and friends, only one person had two seasons of the DVD's (season 1 and season 7), and those were Christmas gifts from a spouse. I could have bought a season or two of the early DVD's, but I thought the $100+ per season was ridiculous.

Yes they did. I remember exploiting Gamestop's buy 2 get one free 1 sales on dvd box sets also Hastings sales and buying a ton of Star Trek seasons and flipping them on Ebay and Amazon for like $75-90 and that was used. They would sell almost immediately.

[xellos2099alpha]

Originally Posted by mzupeman

The new transfers and reintegration of the special effects cost a lot of money, but so what? Lowering prices could actually help increase the amount of units sold, to the point where it would still be quite profitable for them. Price things up in the sky, and people are going to walk.

Agree, I bough the big ass uk set for 60 ish USD, no regret there.

[bluskiff]

i didn't mind the price of the sets it just cash was tight when they came out. I bought season 1 3 when they came out and 2 4 later on still missing 5 6 7. I really think they needed to do the for the future any way . the old dvd versions look terrable on hd tv channels. I eventually will have them all.

[bandit29]

I love the show but it is old and physical media sales are declining. Plus it has been available for streaming in HD for awhile now. I'd love to see DS9 redone in HD.

I remember buying the DVD seasons for around 100 in the 2000s. Had some episodes on VHS. 2 per tape

[Rory]

Originally Posted by Bradsdadg

I still say it's in a slump. I like ST, am still pissed "Enterprise" didn't get seven seasons, but I think Paramount has too much Trek out there in the media. I, too, have TOS on Blu-ray, but mostly watch it on Netflix. I don't think the HD remastering of TNG should be on any streaming services -- if you want to ssee it in HD, you gotta buy the BDs -- and they should pull DS9 and Voyager from everything if they have any plans for HD remastering. I don't know how well this new show will do, but if it doesn't do well, I think the entire franchise should go on hold for at least seven years and let demand build.

Too much of a good thing is not a good thing, and popularity doesn't last forever.

[jetthead]

Originally Posted by xellos2099alpha

Agree, I bough the big ass uk set for 60 ish USD, no regret there.

I got the UK boxset back in August of last year for £39.74 shipped which came to around $52. I will eventually pick up the UK Enterprise set from there as well.

[mysticwaterfall]

In my mind the biggest thing that doesn't help that they have been on Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon seemingly forever giving a lot of people even less incentive.
I think they would have sold better if they weren't on any streaming services and were say, at most 50$ a season.

I'm a huge trek fan but even I didn't bother with the blus until they were 67$ from the UK. I did buy all the 2 part episode blus when they were 5.99 at BB though.

Edit: I understand Netflix, et al might eventually lose the rights but people don't see it that way. They see a show they are getting for "free" and wonder why they should buy it. I've certainly not bought a few things because of it.

[cheez avenger]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

This is a bunch of BS.


CBS paid for new transfers and spent millions putting the show through post production again - something not needed on a typical TV series on Blu. Re-edited every shot. Recomposited all VFX, creating new high resolution VFX. Remixing the sound.


Yet $50-$60 a season was "too much" for some people.


Now there won't be DS9 or VOY in HD.

If you have unlimited funds then go to it. I paid $50 for the complete series shipped from the UK.

Cry me a friggin' river, multi-billion dollar studio.

[cheez avenger]

Originally Posted by jetthead

I got the UK boxset back in August of last year for £39.74 shipped which came to around $52. I will eventually pick up the UK Enterprise set from there as well.

I have that Enterprise set and got cheaper than TNG via Amazon UK.

[phobicsquirrel]

I wasn't aware that the sets didn't sell that well but it is not surprising with today's consumer. A lot of good points about why people didn't buy them but I don't think the 40 dollars or so when they came out was a deal killer. They were almost 100 on dvd (xfiles too) and I'm sure most people had them already. People that don't care about quality will certaintly not want to rebuy the show especially when TNG is on many channels. While this site is a small sample, I don't understand why so many people on here will spend $30+ for a film on blu (old or new) yet complain about a 40-60 season of a beloved show? Also, that so much work and restoration went into TNG on blu.

[Clark Kent]

Originally Posted by mzupeman

Paramount simply doesn't understand the market out there. They invested a ton of money into these restorations for home video, and then charged an arm and a leg. May sell great out of the gate, but charging so much for each season becomes a long, and expensive commitment that many don't care to buy in to. If Paramount only understand that, hey, maybe $40 seasons wouldn't be so bad, maybe I Love Lucy would still be around. But no. They charge extortionate prices and expect things to sell.

CBS/Paramount constantly misread the Blu-ray television market. It wasn't just Star Trek, but I Love Lucy and Andy Griffith Show as well.

They would release one season at a time at exorbitant pricing, even for the U.S. market.

You could possibly get away with that on a new show still airing today. You can't get away with that on older television series with dying fanbases.

Like many I ended up importing all the various Star Trek releases from overseas, where they are priced much closer to their true market worth.

The average Blu-ray consumer is far more sophisticated than the average DVD consumer. Once the pricing disparity between domestic and equivalent foreign sets became widely known, it was always going to kill domestic sales.

[StingingVelvet]

Originally Posted by halloween5309

in 4;3 format

[StingingVelvet]

Most people I know in real life think the $5.99 bin at Best Buy is a little overpriced in the days of The Pirate Bay. On Twitter I follow lots of fellow sociologists and professors, political writers and researchers, real professionals with high salaries... pretty much all of them casually mention illegally streaming or downloading anything not on Netflix. Don't even get me started on the students, they either use their parents' accounts or pirate everything on principle.

It's a new world, and paying for media is quickly becoming a niche market. Not enough Trekkies in that group willing to pay up. Is what it is.