Is TV on Blu-ray Dying?

[McCrutchy]

I still think part of the problem is that studios routinely create the expectation that TV series are only released on DVD.

Consider that Fox, coming back to physical releases of The Simpsons, chose not to release a Blu-ray of season eighteen. Now, sure, they probably have some kind of data--at least I hope they do--that shows seasons thirteen through seventeen sold poorly on Blu-ray versus DVD. And yet, there was a three-year gap in between the release of season seventeen and season eighteen, during which time, Blu-ray only grew in stature, enough to spawn UHD Blu-ray. Fox could easily have released season eighteen on Blu-ray, and then, if sales had been poor, in continuing the series, they may have been able to justify DVD-only releases. As it stands, we'll never know how season eighteen of The Simpsons would have done on Blu-ray, because Fox spent months creating the expectation that it would only be released on DVD, and so many people who would have bought the Blu-ray have instead already purchased the DVD.

That's just one example, but another is the now-common scenario of not releasing a first season on Blu-ray. Again, if a first season is only on DVD, the automatic assumption is that subsequent seasons will be DVD-only, too. Likewise, if you have a Warner Archive TV Blu-ray, unfortunately, Warner only puts the DVD in stores, so many people assume that shows like iZombie and Lucifer are not available on Blu-ray.

That's why I've been so reticent to pick up any network series on HDTV. I want to watch a show first or again on Blu-ray, so with few exceptions, I don't bother to watch all but the biggest premium and cable TV series, because I now expect that most network and even cable shows are unlikely to get a Blu-ray release, regardless of critical praise or popularity.

Ironically, many series mentioned here, like The Americans, Angie Tribeca and subsequent seasons of Fargo, are shows I would happily watch, and spend money on, if I knew they would get Blu-ray releases.